Crossing Destinies
by IrregularMuse
Summary: On holiday in America with the Dursleys, Harry has a chance meeting with a kind brown-haired lady and her son. This changes his destiny drastically as fate is thrown off the rails. How will his 4th Year unfold with new abilities and both old and new allies by his side? Demigod!Harry.
1. A Home

_A Home_

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _I don't own any part of the Harry Potter franchise but I do own this plot. :D_

Harry was born in 1980

Percy was born in 1993

So Harry is (technically) 13 while Percy is 1.

Sally hasn't married Gabe and is living with Percy.

* * *

 _August 10th 1994_

Aunt Petunia was yelling again. However, this time, instead of from the comfort of 4 Privet Drive, it was from in front of a motel somewhere in Manhattan.

Her voice was basically echoing off the run-down walls of all the nearby buildings. Her shrill voice could practically be heard by everyone in the vicinity. Heck, she wouldn't even need a _Sonorus_ charm to drive everyone here deaf, Harry thought.

"Boy! We are going to be enjoying our holiday here, and the only way to do that is without you following us. I expect you to be back here by 10. Not a second later. Am I clear?"

Harry, at this point, was almost ready to roll his eyes and throw back a snide remark but instead, he mumbled a soft, "Yes, Aunt Petunia."

Satisfied, Aunt Petunia turned and left with her husband, who was grumbling about how it would be better if the freak wandered off and never returned, and her "darling Dudders" who was smirking at Harry, "Try not to offend people with your freakishness."

Once the Dursleys had left, Harry looked around and pondered his next course of action.

There would be less chances of a Death Eater ambushing and offing him in America, right? Yet, one could never be too safe so Harry tucked his wand securely into his back jean pocket.

Harry walked around aimlessly, observing people rushing, pigeons flying about and the ever present sound of traffic. There were families strolling around, children were giggling while their parents smiled. Harry gazed at them longingly and continued his stroll.

Securely in his pocket was the business card of the clerk working at the front desk of the motel. The name of the hotel was printed on one side of the card while the address was in bold on the other. Harry decided that it would be enough for him to be able to ask for directions back. His stomach grumbled and his feet carried him to the nearest food establishment. He had been fed a very meager lunch, courtesy of Vernon.

He just had to stay with the Dursleys for a few more weeks before he was free and off to Hogwarts. He couldn't wait to see Hermione and Ron again. Hopefully, he could also see Sirius and Remus. Maybe the Dursleys' spontaneous holiday was a blessing in disguise, Harry would take being left alone in America over slaving away in 4 Privet Drive anyday.

Harry was snapped out of his thoughts by the ringing of a bell as he pushed the door of the diner open. He could smell the freshly-cooked food from the kitchen already. The blond cashier noticed him and greeted him amiably.

Harry headed to the counter and stared at the menu. He scanned the prices and ordered the cheapest thing aside from a glass of water: a simple cheeseburger. The blond nodded and yelled his order to the kitchen through a hole in the wall. This was returned by more shouting.

"Darn teenagers…"she complained under her breath. She then promptly asked for payment, and Harry dug into the pockets of his baggy oversized jeans and dug up whatever he could find. A paperclip, some lint, a pound a few shillings and mentally slapped himself.

The lady noticed and shook her head at his hopeful, pleading glance toward her. He sighed and was ready to cancel his order and tell his stomach to shut up when a voice from behind him softly called out, "Here, I'll pay."

A five-dollar-bill was slapped onto the counter and was accepted by the blond cashier. She was counting the change when Harry looked back to thank his mysterious helper.

Behind him stood a brown haired-lady with really tired eyes. She was wearing a black baby-carrier which seemed to pull her shoulders forward down, and in that carrier was an adorable black-haired boy that was gripping his mother's hair tightly while sleeping.

Harry could see the dark rings around her eyes, probably because of the baby, and the freckles that dotted her face were a nice addition to her kind, motherly look.

This lady practically radiated the same motherly aura as Mrs. Weasley. A plastic bag with takeaway boxes was dangling from her wrist. She must have been ready to leave, had seen him and then took pity on him.

She brought her eyes down to meet his and Harry did not expect her to wink at him and hook her lip up. "Let me pay, you look like you won't last without this meal."

Harry was just about to interrupt her and protest that he, in fact, _could_ survive without the burger when his meal was handed to him and he walked out with the lady.

Before he could even speak, the lady raised an eyebrow and asked him, "Hey, kiddo, judging from your…um, money problem, you're probably not from around here. Where are your parents?"

"Dead," Harry dejectedly stared at the lady before continuing, " I'm on holiday with my relatives, and I wandered off." Having said that, he was all but ready to turn around and storm off when a hand grasped his arm.

His hand was already inching for his wand and he had already put a thumb on it, a spell was on the tip of his tongue, ready to fire off anytime. Until he turned around and saw the understanding look on her face. "Kid, I know you're not telling me the whole truth. If you don't want to confess your family background to a stranger, it's okay. But I can't let a ten-year-old wander around the streets, it's not safe."

"I'm already fourteen," Harry deadpanned. Sure, he knew he was small but he wasn't actually that short was he? "And don't call me 'kid', my name's Harry." The lady was taken aback but recovered quickly, "The name's Sally Jackson" She patted her baby on the back and he gurgled a bit, "and this little guy is Perseus." She beamed like the proudest mother in the world.

"Anyway, you don't look like you're in too much of a hurry to get back to your guardians so you obviously know the way back to your hotel." Sally glanced at the clouds gathering overhead and continued, "From my experience, it's probably going to rain soon. Would you like to come to my apartment? I live pretty near here."

Harry proceeded to fix her with the most skeptical look he could muster and Sally embarrassedly sputtered, "That.. came out wrong, I'm just offering an umbrella so you can head back safely."

He was still a little suspicious but he also didn't know the way back to the motel and having an umbrella would certainly help a lot. Hesitantly, Harry nodded and decided to follow her back. Sally smiled and took his hand and led the way.

It had already started raining on the way home and Harry really wanted to know how on Earth a woman carrying a baby could still run so fast whilst wearing high heels on wet pavement.

The things a mother would do for her son, Harry thought as he shoved any jealousy bubbling upward way back down into the deep crevices of his heart.

Sally was already panting as she fumbled with her keys. Harry had only managed to keep up with her due to his Quidditch training but wow, Sally could run.

Perseus was safely tucked against his mother and mostly dry, how he managed to stay sound asleep was a mystery left for next time. Harry's food had managed to stay kind of warm and sort of dry so he mentally celebrated in his head.

Sally opened the door and Harry looked at the clock in her living room. It was already 8.30. Sally placed the food on her coffee table and Harry was cozy just standing in her living room. Her home felt strangely safe and Harry felt his magic thrumming comfortably.

Funny how a stranger's living room was more homey than 4 Privet Drive ever was. Perseus started crying and Sally rushed to get some milk from the fridge. Harry sat down and took a bite from his cheeseburger and watched Sally scramble around.

Soon enough, Sally was sitting on the couch and Perseus was happily gulping down his milk and Sally turned to Harry, who had already finished his burger.

"Aren't your guardians going to be at least a little worried for you? I get that you're fourteen but you are still in a foreign country." Harry instantly snapped back, "They would be glad to see me gone. They don't even deserve to be called 'guardians'."

Sally's eyes were filled with disbelief but it soon melted into pity and sympathy. "Well it looks like the rain isn't going to let up any time soon and it's already so late. Why don't you spend the night here? You can give me your hotel's name and I'll drive you there myself tomorrow."

Harry was shaken yet he was touched. The words just tumbled out his mouth, "Tha.. Thank you."

"It's no big deal, plus Perseus seems to like you enough," as if on cue the child began waving his hands wildly towards Harry as if asking to be carried. Harry was unable to hold back a smile and reached for Perseus.

Holding Perseus close to his chest, he pushed his fringe out of his eye and held him securely. He was in the middle of baby talk when he heard a loud inhale from Sally.

She had basically teleported to him. In an instant, she was caressing his forehead and the skin around his scar. It tingled a bit when she touched it and Harry averted his eyes.

Sally obviously understood that he didn't want to talk about it and, instead, caringly pushed half his fringe back while leaving just enough to to cover the scar. "You look nicer with your fringe pushed back," she grinned as she fastened the hair back with a clip.

"Well, I've set up your bed in the guestroom for you and I don't know how you did it but it looks like you've successfully tired out Perseus. This little rascal has always managed to keep me up all night," Sally commended while kneeling down to tickle her son under his chin. Harry handed Perseus back to her slowly.

She had moved to put Perseus in his crib when she suddenly leaned her head back to ask if Harry wanted to use her shower. In his hurry, Harry had barely noticed his dishevelled clothes and rushed to the bathroom.

When he came back out, Sally was in the middle of her meal and Perseus was sound asleep. She noticed him and motioned him towards a warm glass of milk. Harry gratefully gulped it down and let out a long loud yawn.

Sally flashed him an amused grin and wished him good night. Harry blushed and hugged Sally, "Thank you so much Mrs. Jackson." He rushed back to his room without looking at her reaction. He could hear a soft, 'no problem' coming from outside.

Harry glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, it was already 10.30. Just imagining Aunt Petunia yelling for him while freaking out the surrounding pedestrians was enough to make him giggle.

The Boy-Who-Lived knew that he was bound to be punished by Aunt Petunia when he got back, but hey, he had faced a basilisk and even Voldemort (twice) and survived.

For now, he just wanted to relax in the only other place he could feel safe in besides Hogwarts.

* * *

Author's note: Hiya! I'm new to this site but I've wanted to write this for awhile now. Constructive criticism is always welcome and I hope you'll excuse my errors. Hope you liked the fic!


	2. Separation

_Separation_

 ** _Disclaimer:_** _Each franchise belongs to their respective authors, I own nothing but my plot!_

Harry is 14

Percy is 1

* * *

 _August 10th 1994_

Wearing a comfortable pair of jeans and some killer heels, Sally was locking the door to her apartment. Percy was whining a little due to the amount of movement. He was snugly secured in his baby-carrier which, in turn, was hung tightly around Sally.

After putting her keys away into her purse, the clinking sound causing Percy to giggle happily and clap, she stepped into the elevator. Percy was happily sucking on his pacifier. Sally then headed towards the nearby diner run by a sweet couple. Their food was great but their waffles were to die for.

No! Snap out of it! You're supposed to set a good example for Percy. No waffles for dinner, Sally reminded herself. As she walked towards the diner, Sally felt a strange tingling. It wasn't particularly disruptive, it was even a little soothing.

Strangely, as she neared the diner,the tingling intensified. At first, it was like a soft buzzing, but now, it was sort of similar to a pins and needles feeling all across her body. Sally recalled that Poseidon had told her that monsters would go after demigod children and try to kill them, and Sally had expected monsters to start picking up on Percy's scent but it couldn't be so soon, could it? He was barely one!

Sally warily scanned the surrounding area, nothing out of the ordinary. No one had an additional pair of limbs, nothing with wings aside from the birds, so where was that tingling coming from? Percy either didn't feel it or wasn't alarmed by it, Sally safely decided to go with the former. One couldn't be too cautious. Maybe his demigod senses hadn't developed yet.

She had to find out what was the source of the feeling. Sally had come to like this neighbourhood, but if there was any underlying threat of monsters, she was leaving with her son. Percy's safety was her top priority. Step by step, Sally tracked the feeling to the rough vicinity of its source. It was around the diner where it was the strongest.

Sally drew in a deep breath and pushed open the glass doors. The bell's ringing made Percy stir. Placing a protective hand over his back, Sally glanced around the diner. There was a disturbance in the air, but nothing she could pinpoint. The diner's owner, Joan, had already noticed her and affably asked,"Ah Sally! I've got your usual omelette right here! How's little Percy?"

Sally thanked Joan and paid. Turning around, she was ready to leave when the fuzzy tingling hit her twice as hard. She squinted and noticed some wispy trails emerging from a little boy. He was ordering something from another cashier. The boy was tiptoeing and inching slightly over the counter just to read the menu. It was actually quite cute if you disregarded the fact that he might have been a potential threat to her son.

Oh? He was digging through his pockets for money. Sally caught sight of some British pounds and the cashier's rejection. However, it was the defeated frown that occupied his face that tugged at her heartstrings. He was just about to sulk off when Sally decided to whip out a five-dollar-bill on his behalf.

The look of pure astonishment on his face was extremely amusing. Sally let out a hearty chuckle before exiting the diner, the boy following behind. The annoying tingling slowly fading away.

Sally actually internally congratulated herself for being able to keep a serious expression when questioning the boy. She was ready to give him a hug right then and there on the sidewalk. The poor child had lost his parents before the age of 10! At least, that was what she had thought, until the boy, Harry, stated that he was, in fact, 14! Sally was feeling even more sympathy for the child. Teenager, she corrected herself.

Growing up without parents must have been hard, and from the mild disdain in his voice when talking about his caretakers, they were probably horrible at their job. Taking a look at her own beloved son, Sally swore to do her utmost best to protect Percy and preserve her own life. She had no relatives and couldn't bear for Percy to be mistreated by any foster parents.

Snapping out of her own thoughts, she gave the boy a once over. The obviously British boy was wearing painfully oversized clothes that were basically engulfing him. Even through those clothes, she could still make out his thin bony frame.

Putting aside her bleeding heart, Sally turned to her logical side. Harry was obviously not here to hunt down Percy, but there was still those wisps that she had seen emerging from him. They had settled down into a cocoon like shape around Harry but occasionally spiked. Just like they did when she had, quite rudely, asked about his deceased parents and when she had grabbed his arm. A protective mechanism, perhaps?

All in all, Sally decided that he wasn't a threat and unleashed her mothering upon him. Which led to Harry currently chasing after her while she dashed through the rain with one hand shielding Percy's head.

Harry managed to do a good job of keeping up with her and together they made it back to her apartment. Percy was mostly dry and still asleep, thank goodness, and Sally counted it as a win.

After opening the door of her apartment, Percy woke up and started crying which made her scramble around for his milk and pacifier. With a bottle that had little seashells all over and a light blue pacifier in hand, she fed Percy his milk while he stared at her with those sea-green eyes that he had inherited from his father. Those never ever failed to put even the tiniest smile on her face. She made her way back to the living room only to see Harry on a chair with a cheeseburger wrapper in his hand. She sat down on the couch, shifting around until she was comfortable.

Sally looked out the window and saw the raindrops endlessly pelting down in waves. Was Poseidon having a bad day? Seeing the thick dark clouds gathering even more, she was very unwilling to throw a teenager back out on the streets and into the pouring rain. Thus, she offered Harry a place to stay. He was surprised, and quite touched judging by the slight watering of his eyes.

Disrupting the moment, Percy started reaching out for Harry with his pudgy arms. He was happily babbling and Harry, in turn, extended his arms to ask if he could hold Percy. Sally happily entrusted Percy to Harry, teaching him how to hold Percy properly. With the weight of the baby lifted off her arms, Sally stretched and went to pour herself a victory drink. (apple juice, of course)

When she came back, juice in hand, Harry was rocking Percy to sleep. He had pushed a part of his fringe back and Sally caught sight of a deep scar. She was unable stop the gasp before it came out. Sally walked up to Harry and knelt down in front of him. She found herself on eye level with the scar. Softly pushing the hair back, she took a closer look at it.

She could see more wisps coming from it. However, it felt absolutely unnatural. The wisps around Harry were softer and more natural, whilst the wisps coming from the scar were jagged and sharp, an intruding presence. What was even more curious though, was that the scar was in the shape of a lightning bolt. Zeus' symbol.

Harry was extremely uncomfortable with her scrutiny, so Sally placed a part of his fringe back down. As for the remainder, she took a hair clip from her own hair and it clipped on to Harry's hair with a satisfying slap. As if to comfort him, she reassured," You look nicer with your fringe pushed back." It was true, he did.

While Harry when off to take a shower, Sally put Percy to bed and went to heat up some milk for Harry. She placed the still smoking mug on the table and fell into deep thought.

Why was Harry marked with Zeus' symbol? Was he a child of Zeus? Impossible. Poseidon had told her how hard it was for demigods to survive to their teenage years, and for children of the Big Three, it was even harder. Yet, could those wisps have something to do with it?

More importantly, how did he get the scar in the first place? It couldn't have been a birthmark, it was too...unnatural. However, if it was from a wound, who would carve a lightning bolt into a child?! It was way too old for it to have been recent. Zeus' ego couldn't have been so big to carve his symbol into his child right? Actually… that sounded quite plausible from what she had been told about the youngest of the Big Three.

Harry was definitely not a normal boy, but was he even a child of Zeus in the first place? Children of the Big Three don't just pop out of nowhere.

Harry had the cautiousness of a demigod, and maybe ADHD? He was very alert of his surroundings and very agile. He should have already been found by a satyr and taken to Camp Half-Blood. What was he doing in the middle of Manhattan on holiday with his relatives?

Out the corner of her eye, she noticed Harry emerging from the shower. He finished the glass of milk and yawned loudly. A faint blush dusted his cheeks and he, much to her surprise, reached out for a hug which Sally happily returned. The thoughts swimming around in her head were left for later to ponder about. For now, she just wanted to , even if it was just temporarily, give the boy some comfort. Harry trudged wearily into the guest room she had prepared for a nice long rest.

Pushing the door open slightly, she let a small beam of light enter the guest room. Sally peaked through the gap in the door to see Harry sleeping soundly, even drooling on his pillow. She was glad to see him having that invisible weight on his shoulders lifted. Sally then turned around to go back to her bedroom to ponder about what exactly Harry was.

* * *

 _August 11th 1994  
_

Harry woke to a warm ray of light on his face and he was instantly reminded of yesterday's events. He had expected to be woken up from a blissful dream by Vernon and Petunia's yelling. He pushed himself up and observed the guest room. A pastel blue. With some white stars. A bed and a vanity table. He wanted to slam his head back into his comfy pillow and maybe sleep awhile more when he realised he was technically in a stranger's house.

He had changed into the same clothes he had been wearing yesterday after showering: Dudley's oversized jeans and an ugly red shirt that used to be Dudley's as well. His wand was securely in his back pocket, he gripped it tightly and felt the magic course through him and instantly calm him down. He had the motel's address in his other pocket. He was unsure of what had overcome him yesterday. He had followed a stranger home and stayed the night. Maybe it was the baby that had somewhat lowered his suspicions, yup,definitely the baby.

Harry walked out, hoping that Sally was still asleep. When he saw Sally's brown hair at the table, he cursed.(inwardly, there's a baby here!) Sally greeted him with a kind smile and Harry felt some guilt for suspecting the kind lady.

"Ah, you're finally awake. I've got some bread and some coffee and tea. Which would you like?"

"Tea, please." Harry meekly said.

"Of course, you Brits and your tea." She chuckled and went about making tea.

Soon, Harry was sipping his tea while Sally was feeding Perseus. The silence was broken when Perseus started whining for Harry to hold him. While holding a baby in his arms and a rattle in the other, Harry was doing his best to calm Perseus down. He heard the faint snap of a camera and immediately swivelled his head around expecting to see Colin Creevey. All he saw was Sally holding a camera with an excited grin on her face and mumbling to herself.

Harry blushed and went back to entertaining Perseus.

"So, do you know your hotel's name or address?" Sally asked, putting her camera away.

Harry produced the business card from his pocket and Sally examined it closely before exclaiming,"I know this place, it's just a 10 min drive, 15 if we're unlucky enough to be caught in traffic."

Harry sighed and followed Sally down to her car. She hopped into the driver's seat, then placing Perseus into his car seat and snapping him in securely. Perseus was wide-eyed and happily pushing and squeezing the car seat. Sally noticed and remarked that Perseus didn't ride in the car much. Harry reluctantly got comfortable in the back. Sally buckled her seatbelt and twisted the car keys. The engine roared to life and they were off.

Harry knew that he had to ,sooner or later (preferably later), return to the Dursleys. No matter how much he wished to stay with Sally he knew that he couldn't burden her. On top of that, there was a chance that Death Eaters would get wind of his staying with the Jacksons and put them in danger as well. Looking at Perseus happily playing with his seatbelt, he couldn't bear for him to end up like Harry had: growing up without parents. Perseus' father was obviously not in the picture, whether he had passed on or had walked out on Sally, Harry was too scared to ask.

Harry gazed out the window and looked at the people the car had driven by. Harry was wistfully staring out his window when Sally leaned back and told him," There's some crazy traffic up ahead, I'm taking a detour, is that alright?" Harry nodded and returned to his window.

The car started moving again and they were soon on a slightly more empty road. As Sally was driving, Harry was pretty sure he had seen a girl with a horse leg and a metal leg. Harry rubbed his eyes, to get a double take but Sally was speeding away so Harry simply brushed it off. America had its own magical community too, right? Maybe there were some who had rather...peculiar habits.

Harry kept an eye out for more out-of-the-ordinary things but there wasn't anything worth bringing up. Shortly, they were already at the motel. Harry gulped and prepared to face the wrath of an Aunt Petunia left waiting. Sally walked with him to the front desk, holding Perseus tightly. Harry told the clerk the Dursley's room number. The clerk whispered to him," I don't know why you're looking for those crazy Brits but I'm just gonna warn you that the woman was royally pissed last night for some reason, she wouldn't stop yelling for someone until her husband pulled her back in." Harry gave a weak smile before going back to thank Sally again.

"Thank you so much, Mrs Jackson. I don't know what I would have done without you. I won't forget what you've done for me." Harry gratefully thanked her. Sally nodded and hesitantly exited with Perseus.

Harry was alone in the motel's reception area. He gulped and slowly pushed open the heavy room door that suddenly felt exceptionally heavier.

Sally gave another glance back at the motel. She really didn't want to leave poor Harry alone to face his relatives. In fact, she didn't even want Harry to go back to those horrible people. Yet, there was nothing she could do, Harry wasn't physically abused from what she could tell, just mistreated, but how badly was he mistreated? She had no idea. She wanted to help him but there was nothing she could do aside from ending up being on the run from the police for kidnapping a 14-year-old. With a defeated sigh, Sally went back to her car, Percy worriedly held onto his mother's hair as if sensing her helplessness.

* * *

 _Author's note: Heya again! I originally planned to leave this as a one-shot but this amazing reviewer gave me so many ideas so I really wanted to add them in. Hopefully you're enjoying how it's progressing! Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. :D_


	3. Return

_Return_

Harry is in 4th year

* * *

 **At the motel**

 _August 11th 1994_

Harry pushed open the door. Unsurprisingly, he was met with the face of a seething Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon who looked ready to blow up from how red his face was with anger. They had been surprised at first, wondering who was at the door, yet when they saw the familiar face of the freak, they instantly saw red. Harry gulped and looked around, Dudley was gloating in the corner, anticipating the Freak to get yelled at and punished.

Aunt Petunia was ready to start yelling how the Freak dared to make a fool of her yesterday night, when Uncle Vernon, grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him in. He glared at Harry and harshly whispered," Freak, you're very lucky that the walls are thin here. You just wait until we get back to Privet Drive. You won't be eating. For. A. Very. Long. Time."

Harry was a bit shaken as Uncle Vernon had just behaved in a very un-Vernon way, he had expected him to blow his top off and start yelling. Harry gulped slightly. Uncle Vernon finally let go of his shoulder and escorted his wife and son out,before closing the door and leaving however, he gave Harry a long hard stare that promised pain ,"You better not leave this room or don't be expecting to be coming back to Surrey with us. And absolutely nothing freakish is to come out of you." Having said that, he slammed the door and Harry was left alone, surrounded by the worn-down wallpaper of the motel.

Harry brought a hand to his shoulder, that would most leave a bruise. Uncle Vernon was really angered. The Dursleys had been in America for three days already, today was their last day. Harry had snuck a peek at their itinerary when Aunt Petunia wasn't looking. It was currently about 10.15, which meant that the Dursleys would be out until 12. Then, they would return to the motel for their baggage and they were off, headed for the airport which was a 40 min trip. Harry inhaled deeply, he probably wouldn't be getting any food until the airplane flight.

With a sigh, Harry plopped himself on the bed. He caressed his poor stomach. Thankfully, he had eaten his fill at the Jacksons' apartment. Just thinking about them brought a smile to his face, Sally and Perseus had a certain aura around them that was just strangely warm. Harry resolved to get them gifts as thanks for caring for him. And if those gift had a little...magical kick to them, they wouldn't realise.

With a goofy smile on his face, Harry leaned out the window and soon fell asleep. Somehow, he was oddly assured that he would see both Sally and Perseus again.

* * *

Sometime later, Harry was violently shaken awake by Dudley. He turned around and Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were scowling at him. Aunt Petunia sneered at him," Boy! If you want to be eating until you go off to your freakish little school, you'd better start moving our bags onto the cab downstairs!" Uncle Vernon brutally shoved their baggage at him, expecting him to carry it downstairs in one trip. Harry hung the fat bags on his arms and gathered the overstuffed suitcases in the other hand. Harry couldn't even see the steps in front of him as he descended down cautiously. Each step was accompanied by a groan in the wood.

"And if anything breaks, boy, you'll be sorry." Aunt Petunia's voice called from above. The cab driver took notice of the moving stack of baggage wandering towards him and was kind enough to help him place the bags carefully into the trunk. Harry cupped his cramping arms and waited for the Dursleys to get into the car.

Harry quietly sat in his corner of the car. Uncle Vernon had decided to sit in the front, thank Merlin for that. Harry could not have imagined sitting in the cramped car with Uncle Vernon breathing down his neck. Dudley had taken the other window seat and was making comments about everything the car was driving by. Aunt Petunia sat in the middle, trying to keep up with her son's enthusiasm. The exasperated look on her face actually made Harry quirk his lip upward but aside from that Harry was bored as ever. And the only other thing he could do aside from stare blankly at the back part of the cab driver's headrest, was stare out the window, so he did.

The sights of Manhattan were zooming by his little window and everything was a blur but it was mostly normal. Buildings towered over imposingly. Pigeons fluttered by and gathered together on windowsills. That was, until the taxi stopped in front of a traffic light and Harry's eyes fell onto a shadowed alley.

Inside that alley were a couple of trash cans, some fallen clothing and two teenagers holding… swords?! And they were being cornered by a huge snarling dog?! The dog was slobbering all over the floor and was already crouching, ready to pounce on the two teens. Merlin, what was going on? Harry did an obvious double take and pressed his face against the window, trying to get a better look.

Hermione had said once that other magical communities had their own peculiar traits, but this? This was ridiculous! Fortunately, Harry's sudden fascination with the window went unnoticed by everyone in the car. Dudley was still yelling at his own window and Petunia was trying to pacify him. Vernon was boasting about his various business ventures to the cab driver.

The car began picking up speed again and Harry got a second look at the alley. Instead of the previous scene,now, it was just a labrador preparing to pounce on the two teenagers. But instead of swords, one of them was holding a bat and the other was holding a piece of wood. Was there something wrong with him? He knew for a fact that other magical communities still used wands, aside from some but those communities were located in Asia, so was it just him that was seeing things? Before the car sped off, Harry managed to catch a glimpse of one of the boys getting a good swing in at the dog with his bat. Harry had seen lifeless petrified bodies before but he still instinctively averted his eyes at this.

When he opened them again, they were already far away from that mysterious alley. Harry kept his eyes peeled for any more weird sights but there was nothing worth mentioning for the entire remainder of the trip. Harry thought back to the girl with a horse foot and a metal leg that the had seen from Sally's car, he had brushed it off at first, chalking it up to his poor vision, but after the seeing what had gone down in the alley, he couldn't have seen so many things wrongly, could he? There was definitely something going on but since it was obviously a magical issue, he would leave it to America's ministry.

Harry set aside the whirlwind of thoughts in his head and before he knew it, they were at the airport.

As the plane slowly lifted into the air, Harry sighed. His few days of freedom were soon to be over. Harry silently lamented that he couldn't see the Jacksons without an international portkey or plane ride. He had a feeling that they would be playing an important part of something bigger. He couldn't quite place a finger on it. Something from their meeting had seemed to awaken something within him.

* * *

 **On the car ride back to Little Whinging**

He hadn't managed to catch any sleep the whole flight. Uncle Vernon was snoring away comfortably with Aunt Petunia and Dudley napping away behind him. He was subjected to a long torturous stream of snoring and bad breath. The only thing good about the whole flight was that Harry managed to convince the flight attendant to give him some extra bread rolls along with his dinner. Harry forced himself to eat as he knew that the Dursleys had not forgotten that he had "made a fool of them" and that Uncle Vernon would definitely back up his words.

Now, they were in yet another cab on the way back to 4 Privet Drive. The Dursleys continued sleeping while Harry regretted not bringing Sleeping Draught along. He was imagining how bad his punishment would be. Would they restrict his food? Or would they just lock him up in his bedroom? Harry was quite comfortable with the latter option. He could still have the company of Hedwig in the musty bedroom.

He hoped Hedwig was faring well on her own. Uncle Vernon had locked her up before leaving for the airport but Harry had sneakily set her free. Hopefully, she was able to catch some mice in the vicinity for food. Harry felt dread creeping up his spine when the cab driver stopped in front of the familiar house, shook Vernon awake and told him," We're here. That'll be 15 pounds, sir."

* * *

 **4 Privet Drive**

 _19th August 1994_

It seemed that Harry's prayer had gone unheard. The Dursleys had decided to give him an even worse version of what he had initially predicted. He was given a terrifyingly long list of chores by Aunt Petunia and Dudley was making it his top priority to make Harry's job harder at any given time. He had tracked mud into the house while Harry was scrubbing the floor, made even more disgusting messes at the dinner table for him to clean and Harry would bet his magic that he was the culprit who had left a knee-high pile of dirt in the bathroom for him to get rid of.

Despite this, Harry was still only given a can of soup and a slice of bread as a meal and sometimes, they didn't even bother sending anything up for him to eat. Depending on how lucky he was, the soup would occasionally differ. The occasional chicken soup actually provided some chicken bits inside for him to enjoy. Harry had managed to sneak away some leftovers after each meal to sustain himself but Aunt Petunia had put a stop to that after the first few times. His magic was constantly coursing through his body, making the hunger tolerable and keeping his body relatively healthy.

It wasn't until Harry had passed out numerous times that they started giving him more to eat. And by more he meant a few more slices of bread. Glaring at the extra slice that had been sent up to him for his meal lying innocently on the tray next to his usual can of soup and bread, he gnashed his teeth in anger. Hedwig hooted comfortingly beside him. Harry let out a weak smile and gently ran his hand through her feathers. Yet inwardly, Harry was utterly disgusted at his own powerlessness.

* * *

 **4 Privet Drive**

 _22nd August 1994_

Harry victoriously clutched at his new-found pouch. Aunt Petunia had confiscated it but he had discovered it in the 3rd drawer of her dresser when he was cleaning. It weighed quite a bit. Inside it was a meager 5 Galleons, 14 Sickles and a few Knuts but Harry viewed it as his ticket out of Privet Drive.

At the start of his excruciating punishment, he had entertained various thoughts of seeking asylum at the Leaky Cauldron but he had utterly no funds to even ride the Knight Bus. Aunt Petunia had picked off any wizarding currency he had cleanly off him. Yet now, with this small little pouch he could finally leave this hellish place early.

He understood that the whole reason of him staying at Privet Drive was because of the blood wards that would keep him safe from Death Eaters. But if he was already in danger of being killed due to overexhaustion by the very people who were living with him, he might as well risk it and head over to the Leaky Cauldron. It had kept him safe once, he was pretty sure that he could risk going a second time. With determined eyes, and one hand clutching the money pouch tightly, Harry drank his soup slowly whilst waiting for night to fall.

He could hear the loud snoring coming from Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's room. Feeling the tremors from Dudley's bedroom coming to a halt, Harry decided to make his great escape. Would the Dursleys be enraged to see that their "house elf" had left, only to return after another year at Hogwarts? Or would they actually be glad to see him gone? Well, he wouldn't be around to see their reactions.

Harry knew that Aunt Petunia was an especially light sleeper, and the noise produced from him tiptoeing down the stairs was definitely enough to wake her up. How she could sleep through Uncle Vernon's snoring, Harry was utterly clueless. Maybe she had learned to tune him out. With a light snicker, Harry grabbed his backpack which he had packed the day before in the rare breaks he had managed to acquire. He gingerly crept to the window. Soft rays of moonlight were shining through. Hedwig was already beating her wings and hovering outside the window, waiting patiently for Harry. Harry unlatched the lock and crept out carefully.

Lifting his other leg over the window, Harry was out. Tucked safely in his backpack was Harry's Gringotts key, a water bottle and his money pouch. His wand was comfortably tucked in his jean pocket. His oversized shirt wrapped around him like a baggy sweater. Hedwig swooped down and led Harry to the sidewalk safely.

Harry plopped himself onto the kerb and lifted his right arm. In a flash, the purple silhouette of the Knight Bus was driving down the road. Just as it had the year before, Harry was slightly blown backward by the accompanying wind. The headlights illuminated the whole stretch of road and it stopped with a loud hiss in front of him. Craning his neck upward, Stan was leaning towards him, one hand on his pole and he amiably welcomed Harry onto the bus.

"Nice seeing you again, Mr Potter. Off to the Leaky Cauldron this time as well? "

Harry nodded and hopped onto the bus, he then weaved through the countless sleeping passengers. Stan yelled his destination to Ernest. Harry recounted his previous ride on the Knight Bus and clung onto one of the poles tightly. Hedwig perched herself on one of the bedposts inside the bus. The bus zoomed off and was soon dodging in between cars, switching lanes wildly. Stan handed Harry a ticket and continued to stand there nonchalantly. Harry was clinging onto the pole for dear life and Hedwig… had shut her eyes and was resting peacefully.

"Well, can I getcha anything Mr Potter? Hot chocolate? I just got my hands on a darn good recipe." Stan offered.

Harry declined politely, well, as politely as he could while being tossed side to side by the bus. Luckily, there were no abrupt stops the whole ride this time. The bus soon came to a halt with a loud shriek and Harry carefully stepped off the bus, his view a little distorted from all the prior movement. Gripping tightly onto the straps of his backpack, Harry searched for the Leaky Cauldron.

Harry eventually found the bar and pushed the doors open. He was greeted by Tom and a few of the late-night customers. Hedwig nestled herself onto a cushion that she had found while Harry walked over to the counter and pleaded with Tom to stay the night.

Tom was surprised at first, that the Boy-Who-Lived had basically begged him for asylum. Yet, he felt quite obliged to let him stay. From what he had overheard when serving his extremely chatty guests, the boy had gone through a lot in the past few years. Looking at the disheveled boy, one would never even think that this was the savior of the Wizarding World. Tom's heart slightly softened and he tossed Harry a room key.

Harry had the most grateful smile on his face as he picked up the key. Harry let out a flurry of 'thank yous' and gestured for Hedwig to follow him. As the little figure rushed up the stairs, Tom's smile soon drooped a bit, he had a nagging feeling that this year, something big was going to happen and that Harry would be in the very middle of that entire mess.

* * *

 **Leaky Cauldron**

 _22nd August 1994_

Harry victoriously flopped onto the bed. The room wasn't much, it was quite small in fact. Just a bed and a table. Yet, Harry revelled in the feeling of freedom that washed over him in waves. He was in such euphoria that he had tried to cuddle Hedwig, before she had wrestled herself away from him and was now across the room, on the coat rack, a little shaken. Harry muttered a soft apology and took his money pouch out. He grasped it tightly in his hand and went back down to get himself something to eat. He really wanted something that wasn't soup.

"Tom?"

"Ah, Harry, are you comfortable in your room? Anything I can help you with?"

"Actually, I was thinking of asking if you were serving any food at this time of day?"

"Well, you're in luck Harry. I still have a bit of mash and some of that roast I made this afternoon." Tom went over to his many pots and soon passed Harry a plate with food on it. It was a bit pitiful, just some cold potato with meat and a single asparagus. But to Harry who had only been fed bread and canned soup for the past week, it smelled and looked absolutely delectable.

Tom took out his wand and cast a simple Heating Charm on the food, and the plate started to heat up in Harry's hands. Harry was amazed as trails of smoke started floating up from the food, the smell wafted through the air and Harry was proud of himself for not drooling already. The wondrous look on his face was really quite cute and Tom quickly passed Harry a fork and spoon.

"You can bring the plate back tomorrow when you wake up, go get some rest soon." Tom gently told Harry. Harry marveled at Tom's kindness for a moment before placing one hand in to his money pouch which was slung around his waist securely. He reached around for a Galleon until he felt the familiar size of the gold coin. Harry pulled it out and placed it on the counter.

"Thanks for letting me stay the night Tom."

Tom was taken aback at the shiny gold coin, but soon accepted it and reminded Harry to get some rest.

Harry happily took his plate and returned to his room. Hedwig was already devouring a rat that she had caught. He sat down at the table and savored his first meal in a long time.

* * *

 _ **Author's note:**_ _Hiya! Thanks so much for the reviews! I hope that the story is progressing okay, I didn't want Harry to be horribly abused in this story so I changed it. There was also a lot of Hedwig in this chapter and it's because I absolutely adore Hedwig (don't judge me). Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome!_


	4. Gifts

_A Gift_

Harry is 14

* * *

 **Leaky Cauldron**

 _23rd August 1994_

Harry woke up early that day. He had acquired the habit of waking up early thanks to the Dursleys, but this time, he didn't wake up with reluctance and annoyance. On the contrary, he was excited and ready to start the day.

Harry went to the bathroom to freshen up. A toothbrush and toiletries had already been prepared for him by Tom. Harry washed away any remains of sleep and brushed his teeth. Hedwig was sleeping on the coat rack, Harry gave her a soft pat and went downstairs for breakfast.

Descending the creaky stairs, he was greeted by Tom and the early morning customers. Tom had already prepared some breakfast for him and it was on a plate at one of the side tables.

"Tom, thank you so much for letting me stay here last night. I don't know how to thank you."

"It wasn't anything big, plus, you already paid for your room so I don't see the problem with letting you stay."

Harry quickly finished his breakfast and went back to his room. He picked up his backpack and headed to the back door. Harry stared at the brick wall for awhile before tapping the bricks. The bricks started moving rapidly and soon revealed a large archway. Harry looked at the bustling sights of Diagon Alley and excitedly went through the archway.

* * *

 **Diagon Alley**

The hordes of wizards and witches moving around through the Alley did nothing to deter Harry from excitedly scampering about. His destination was Gringotts. Harry weaved through the crowd expertly, his small frame making it several times easier. Harry was soon face-to-face with the familiar white walls of Gringotts. The interior design of the bank never failed to blow him away, countless goblins were serving the numerous of wizards and witches. Harry managed to join the shortest queue and was soon led to the front.

"Hello Griphook, I would like to make a withdrawal please."

Harry was slightly nervous and worried that he had gotten the goblin's name wrong but the goblin didn't correct him. In fact, the goblin was slightly impressed which spoke a lot about how rude wizards and witches were.

"Key?" He grunted.

Harry rummaged through his backpack and fished out his key. It was slightly dirty but Harry wiped away the grime on his shirt and sheepishly handed it to Griphook. Griphook pushed himself off his chair and motioned for Harry to follow him.

They were soon in a cart, moving past countless vaults. The cart soon stopped in front of Harry's vault: Vault 687. Griphook opened the vault and Harry was welcomed by his numerous piles of gold. He stood outside patiently while Harry went about his business. He bent down, swiftly took a handful of Galleons and shoved it into his little bag. He and Griphook then left the vault, the Galleons clinking around in his bag.

As Harry was setting foot into the cart, something caught his eye. A few vaults down was a magnificent door, intricate carvings ran across the shiny black door. It had a very otherworldly aura to it. The black sheen of the door was further enhanced by many silver streaks in the metal, the sides of the door were studded with gems of different kinds. The whole door gleamed ominously and Harry couldn't help but compare it to the other doors, they paled in comparison and appeared ordinary next to it.

"Griphook, who does that vault belong to?" Harry queried, one finger pointing at the door.

"You can see that?" Griphook was genuinely surprised, but his face betrayed no emotion.

Harry nodded and Griphook was muttering something in rapid Gobbledegook.

"We don't get much of your kind around here, if you fancy a continued existence, don't talk about it. That magic of yours hides scent, but in the Wizarding World-" Griphook had turned to him and was seriously warning him,"- the greatest threats aren't monsters. Wizards can be far, far more vicious than you think."

My kind? Monsters? Merlin, what was Griphook going on about? Harry wondered. The cart soon exited the dreary caverns of Gringotts. Harry wanted to ask Griphook more, but Griphook was grumbling something under his breath and Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to disturb him. Harry quickly alighted the cart, escaping from the suffocating awkwardness.

Harry dipped his head in courtesy to Griphook,"Thank you, Griphook, may the gods grant you more gold."

"The gods indeed.." Griphook muttered with a wry smile.

Clueless as ever, Harry turned and left Gringotts. He had come to Diagon Alley with the intention of getting Sally and Perseus a gift to thank them for their hospitality. He had wanted to search for one when he came to Diagon Alley for his yearly shopping trip, but he ultimately wanted to get them a special gift, and he needed time to carefully pick out one. Harry pondered what to get them as he drifted from stall to stall. He couldn't get them anything too obvious, and Perseus couldn't use most of the things here. A piece of jewellery, perhaps? He didn't remember Sally wearing anything that day, no earrings, necklaces or rings, so nothing too showy either.

He had walked by countless stalls, each shop owner was loudly declaring their wares, desperately even. Harry wanted to get away from all the noise and soon found himself standing in front of a stall that was oddly peaceful, even amidst the bustling crowds. It was slightly run-down, the old lady managing it sat on nothing but a simple stool. Her wares were displayed on a table, on top of a velvet red cloth spread. Three gem-studded chests sat in the middle of the table. She was sipping something, waiting for customers.

The old lady soon caught sight of Harry. She smiled at him in a grandmotherly way, her eyes widened and something flashed in her eyes, it was unlike Dumbledore's trademark twinkle but still managed to unsettle Harry. Had she recognised him?

"Welcome, young halfblood." Her voice had and odd rasp to it, she was still cupping the tea cup, occasionally taking sips. Her eyes trailed over to Harry and Harry immediately averted his eyes. Halfblood? How was that a way to greet someone?

He scanned her wares, it was mostly jewellery. Ranging from the smallest, most inconspicuous stud to obnoxiously gaudy headpieces. Every single piece looked good but what caught his eye was the aura surrounding the three chests. Yet, the aura they exuded was unlike magic, it was different, more imposing. Where had she acquired them?

As if reading his mind, the old lady confirmed, "I see you have noticed my most precious goods. This one-" She unlatched the hook on the first chest and pulled out a bronze ring,"-has an unbelievably powerful protection charm engraved into it." Harry stared at her, if these had such powerful enchantments, why wasn't she selling these to paranoid purebloods who would gladly fork out insane amounts of Galleons to purchase her goods? The lady set the ring back down. Gripping her tea cup tightly, she glanced up at Harry," You're wondering why I'm not filthy rich, right? Simply put, those wizards and witches weren't the ones who could properly use them." Harry nodded and opened his mouth to ask a question but he was brutally cut off.

"I can read minds and see memories. I'm a born Legilimens." She deadpanned. Sensing his lingering curiosity, she continued with a defeated sigh. "These three chests contain the creations of my late husband. He had told me that they would keep our son safe. I foolishly kept them in our vaults, instead of using them for their intended purpose. My son was viciously killed, ripped to shreds. Then my eldest child lost her life when some greedy wizards caught wind of my "treasures". Now, I only seek to give these to someone who truly needs them."

Harry gaped at her, and disbelievingly pointed at himself. Me? Someone who truly needs them? The old lady chuckled at him, "You're a lot more special than you realise, Harry Potter. Not just because you're the Boy-Who-Lived. These will serve you well. You will need them. The ones who you plan to gift these to need them even more. You have a bigger role to play. Them as well." She stared at him knowingly.

Harry was still shaken by what had just happened. The old lady spared no time, setting her cup down, she hobbled over to the second chest. She pulled out a beautiful silver chain. It had a few dangling charms attached to it. She waved it around in front of him," This one might be the most valuable to you. It helps hide scent." Harry raised an eyebrow, quite offended by that statement. Sure, he hadn't showered since escaping Privet Drive but he couldn't have smelt that bad, right? The elderly woman laughed," Not like that. You'll know when the time comes. Take it as something that has been engraved with a powerful Concealment Charm."

She proceeded to open the final chest. She reached into it and in her hand was a golden bangle. "This one will be of great use to you. Watch." She placed it on her left wrist and then tapped it three times. Harry was buzzing with anticipation and his mouth dropped open when the old lady turned around, and in her hand was a beautiful sword. It gleamed as the light hit it and Harry felt a slight pull towards it. The blade was passed to Harry and he experimentally gave it a swing. It was strangely comfortable. Harry tossed it from hand to hand and was impressed by the way it seemed to dance in the air.

"I bestow these to you, Harry Potter. I always knew that they served a greater purpose. Use them well."

Harry wanted to thank her but he felt a great push and a flash of light blinded him. Before he knew it, he was on the floor with busy wizards and witches walking around him. He hoisted himself to his feet and searched for the mysterious old lady. Her stall was nowhere in sight.

Confused and mind still distorted from the flash, Harry looked down at the additional weight on his arms. Safely on his right wrist was the chain bracelet and securely on his left wrist was the bangle. On his finger was the bronze ring. Harry decided that he would examine them somewhere else, if they were as valuable as the elderly woman had claimed, he didn't want any word getting out that he possessed them.

Harry dashed over to a small alley. He removed the items from his person and tucked them safely into his bag. He placed them next to the pocket where his Gringotts key was safely stored. Harry was tremendously overwhelmed by what had just happened so he decided to relax with some ice cream. Harry wandered over to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. He ordered a scoop of chocolate and waited patiently at his table. The server had quickly brought it over and Harry passed him a few coins.

As he savoured the sweet dessert in bliss, Harry reflected on today's trip to Diagon Alley. Overall, it had been quite fruitful. He had managed to get some nice gifts for Sally and Perseus. While he was happily enjoying his dessert, he didn't notice the two redheads who were sneaking up on him with the most devious grins on their faces.

Hands slammed down on his shoulders and Harry was painfully shaken awake from his chocolate-induced bliss.

"Hello Harry-"

"-what are you-"

"-doing here on this beautiful day?" They finished together.

Harry spun around, almost whipping his wand out due to pure instinct but was glad to see the identical faces of the Weasley twins. He glanced behind them to see if Ron and the others were here as well but was slightly disappointed by the lack of them.

"Hello Fred and George, as you can see, I'm just savouring this miracle given to us by the heavens-" Harry brought his ice cream up for another mouth,"-and can I ask for you to never do that to me again? That scared the living daylights out of me." The twins snickered and continued,

"Well, Harry, Forge and I here-"

"-thought that you had come to Diagon Alley-"

"-in preparation for the Quidditch World Cup Finals!"

"The what now?" Harry asked curiously.

Fred, at least he was pretty sure it was Fred, gasped dramatically," Only the greatest Quidditch event to take place this year! And you dare call yourself a Quidditch fan!"

George rolled his eyes at his twin's antics and continued," The finals are happening in two days. If I remember correctly, Ron wanted to invite you to go with us then."

Harry was looking forward to seeing his friends again and was utterly excited at the upcoming Quidditch match he would get to see. Harry rigorously nodded his head and told them that he was currently staying at the Leaky Cauldron. Soon, the twins left to continue their "top secret business" as they had put it. Harry finished the remainder of his ice cream and headed back to the Leaky Cauldron.

* * *

 **Leaky Cauldron**

 _23rd August 1994_

Harry left Diagon Alley with a satisfied smile on his face. He peeked through the back door of the Leaky Cauldron and quickly walked to his room. The waiters were rushing about, taking orders, serving customers and wiping tables. Unnoticed, the Boy-Who-Lived went upstairs. He placed his backpack on the table and was pleasantly surprised by the sudden appearance of a set of clothing on his bed. It looked like Tom had managed to get him some clothes, and they were of great quality too. Harry resolved to thank Tom later and entered the toilet for a shower.

He relished in the feeling of warm water hitting his skin and washing away all the dirt and grime. After his amazing shower, Harry put on the clothes Tom had procured for him. It was a nice long-sleeved shirt that hugged his body amazingly. The fabric was comfortably thin. Harry dried his wet hair with a towel and moved over to the window. He was feeling a little stuffy and pushed it open. The cool breeze rushed into the room in no time at all. The cooling feeling hit him and Harry let out a satisfied breath. Harry reached for his bag and sat on the leather couch. Harry leaned back and lamented why couldn't he have found that money pouch earlier. The warmth and comfort of this cozy little room could beat Privet Drive anyday.

He nestled himself deeper into the couch until he was comfortable. Once satisfied, he reached into his backpack and pulled out the three pieces of jewellery. Hedwig flew over to his couch and perched on top of it. She leaned her head down and affectionately nuzzled her head against his cheek. Harry chuckled and continued observing the objects. He firstly took the ring and palmed it in his hand. There were small engravings on it but it felt like a normal, run-of-the-mill bronze ring, if you ignored the mystical aura that seemed to have been seeded deep within all three objects. He put it on his finger and felt a warm blanket of magic envelop him.

Harry smiled and took it off. Harry then picked up the chain bracelet. He looped it around his wrist and secured the hook at the end of the chain to one of the loops. He held it up to the sunlight shining in. Harry observed the designs on the dangling charms. They were all in the shape of a burning flame. It was quite secure around his wrist, yet it wasn't too tight. Harry's eyes widened in surprise when he noticed the charms dangling from the chain slowly morph into that of feathers and several diamonds. Each feather was so carefully carved that Harry was pretty sure he could see each individual fiber. The diamonds were each three-dimensional. They glistened in the light and Harry admired the amazing craftsmanship.

He recalled that it could hide his "scent"? Whatever, the old lady had said that it was something similar to a Concealment Charm. Harry already had his cloak so he decided to gift the ring and the bangle to the Jacksons. These would be able to keep them safe, if they ran into anything that could endanger them.

Finally, Harry reached for the object of his interest. The golden bangle. He ran his finger over each embedded design. On the inside of the bangle, there was a word gracefully engraved into the metal: _Phoenix._ Harry quickly put the bangle on. He mirrored the old woman and tapped it gently thrice. The bangle glowed and stretched lengthwise, Harry instinctively gripped the growing string of light and pulled sideways. The bangle was gone and the rod of light morphed into a stunning golden blade. He said golden, but it appeared to be mostly bronze, except for its ethereal golden glow. An admiring gasp escaped his throat. Harry swung it around, it felt light enough for him to swing with ease but as he brought it back down, it was heavy enough to do some serious damage.

Harry was in awe. The blade resonated with him somehow. It was a similar feeling to when he first received his holly wand. It felt natural to him. Harry shut his eyes and imagined the blade morphing back into a bangle. When he opened them, he was not disappointed to see the finely-crafted bangle resting on his wrist.

Dopamine still rushing through his head, Harry gathered some parchment already on the table. He picked up his quill and set about writing his letter to Sally and Perseus. When he finished, he dropped the two objects into the envelope and signed his name on the front. Hedwig was on the windowsill, ready to fly off. Harry tucked the letter in between her beak and she took off, her white silhouette disappearing as she went further and further.

* * *

 _ **Author's note:**_ _Hiya, Happy(late) New Year! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Harry gets a cool new weapon this chapter. The old woman won't be appearing again, but I wonder how many smart cookies figured out who her husband is? Also, I'm sorry to say but the updates are going to be a little less frequent as school is starting soon. As always, reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome. :D_


	5. Communication

_Communication_

* * *

 _26th August 1994_

 ** _Sally's apartment_**

* * *

Sally was doing the laundry. Percy was keeping himself entertained with the many toys Sally had bought for him. He picked up one only to discard it for another all too soon. Was this his ADHD surfacing? Sally kept Percy in her field of vision as she folded and ironed the clothes. The window was opened and the New York air was blowing in. She was just about finished when a soft hoot snapped her out of her daze. She abruptly stopped humming when she turned and saw a snowy owl perched on her windowsill. Sally brandished her iron like a weapon and brought one hand up to protectively shield Percy from it. Owls were a symbol of Athena, had she found out about Percy?! She knew that Athena and Poseidon weren't on good terms, but what exactly was her reason for sending the owl? An owl couldn't do much and Sally knew that the Goddess of Wisdom just had to inform Zeus and he would rain lightning bolts down on her apartment. Percy was oblivious as ever, yet when he caught sight of the owl, he started babbling happily.

Sally returned to her staring contest with the bird when she noticed that in between its beak was a letter. Sally slowly set the iron down and walked over to the fridge. She pulled out some leftover meat she hadn't used yet and tossed it toward the owl. The snowy white bird immediately snapped up at the meat, dropping the letter in the process. The letter sailed down and glided across the kitchen floor and stopped at her feet. Bending down, Sally picked up the mysterious letter and read the messy writing.

 _To Sally and Perseus Jackson_

 _From Harry_

Sally snapped her head back up at the owl in disbelief and back down to read the words again. The owl shifted its head slightly, bored(at least Sally thought it looked quite bored). Before she knew it, the owl had already glided into the living room and made itself comfortable on the edge of cabinet. Sally warily eyed the owl, hand reaching out for the nearby broom, but all it did was continue staring at her from its higher perch.

Once she discerned that the bird hadn't come with hostile intentions, Sally turned her attention back to the letter. Percy was already crawling her way, reaching up for her to carry him. Sally picked him up and placed him on his high chair. He was obviously trying to get closer to the owl, but it just stared imperiously at him. Undeterred, Percy continued waving his arms frantically.

Sally flipped the envelope over and broke the seal on it. She opened it and pulled out a piece of parchment. It was definitely from Harry, those weird wisps were basically weaved into the parchment. As she removed the contents from the envelope, two things fell out. Sally squinted at them suspiciously but turned back to the folded letter and opened it. The material was definitely not paper, it was slightly more yellow and felt stiffer. She was a bit taken aback at the messy writing, but it was still legible. There were some ink blotches and Sally guessed that the writer wasn't that good with a fountain pen. It made Sally smile as she took a seat and began reading.

 _Dear Sally,_

 _I know you might be a tad bit surprised to receive a letter like this, but don't worry, Hedwig is docile. I really wanted to thank you for letting me stay over that night. Inside the envelope are two items:a ring and a chain bracelet. In my culture, they are said to be able to protect the wearer. I hope that you'll like my gifts. One for you and one for Perseus._

 _I hope we can continue to keep in touch. I don't really have access to an email so I hope you're fine with Hedwig. Don't be afraid of Hedwig. She's trained and is very gentle. If you want to send a letter back to me, just write my name on the envelope as the recipient. Hedwig's a very intelligent girl and can find almost anyone. If you don't want to reply, well, I can understand._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Harry_

Sally scanned the contents and had more than a few questions. First of all, who sent a darn bird to deliver a letter? Sally herself didn't have anything electronic too, but using an owl to send a letter? That was seriously going too far. She raised an eyebrow at the bird who had already flew down and was playing with Percy. Hedwig, in return, bobbed her head a bit as if to tell her that it was legit. The bird was also hooting contentedly.

Sally set aside her suspicions and put down the parchment, turning to observe the two objects Harry had sent over. They had a soft glow to them, she could see the aura surrounding them. She was very surprised to see that it was nothing like Harry's wisps, it was more like the aura Poseidon had basically radiated. One of the few things that had initially drawn her to him. Harry had mentioned that one of them was for her: it must have been the ring. It actually looked quite normal, a stark contrast to its regal aura. The aura was not invading and did not seem dangerous, thus Sally cautiously slipped the ring onto her finger and immediately let out a surprised squeal and took it off. She slowly, slowly slipped it on again and she felt a warm sensation envelope her, it was like a gentle hug. She felt… safe.

Sally turned her attention to the chain bracelet. It had a hook at the end and had odd feathers and diamond charms hanging from it. Sally slipped it on and didn't notice anything different. She was slightly disappointed but at least it was safe for Percy to wear.

Sally turned to Percy who was stroking Hedwig in wonder. The bird in question was nuzzling his hair. She inched nearer to him and carefully put the bracelet on his arm, securing it comfortably on his wrist. She was amazed when the charms slowly morphed into tear drop shapes. More importantly, the ever present godly aura around Percy slowly sank back into him! Sally scrambled up to him in disbelief and unhooked the bracelet and took it off slowly. She watched as the previously suppressed godly aura slowly started to seep back out of Percy.

Did this thing just block Percy's scent?! She was gaping at Percy and the baby simply reached out at touched his mother's face cutely. If it did, Sally was already overflowing with thanks for Harry. Yet, these gifts only confirmed her suspicion that Harry definitely wasn't a normal child. Not to mention, he also said that he didn't have access to an email. She was worried that Harry wasn't aware of his (possible) demigod heritage, and didn't know how to defend against the dangers that came with it. Harry was wary of his surroundings, but it was as if he wasn't looking out for monsters but for something else. He also didn't give her the familiar feeling of a demigod. (she had met quite a few travelling around America.)

As Percy excitedly played with his new accessory, watching it sparkle as the light hit it, Sally picked up a fountain pen from her late uncle and a fresh sheet of paper. She put pen to paper and soon had a letter written out for Harry. She decided to give Hedwig another piece of meat as she was going to be flying for a long time. Hedwig finished her meat and picked up her letter. The owl took off immediately, only leaving behind a single white feather.

* * *

 _24th August 1994_

 **Leaky Cauldron**

Harry lazed around on the bed. He had nothing much to do. He had already gone shopping at Diagon Alley and even with the constant warm flow of magic around him, he was bored. He had left almost all of his wizarding possessions at Privet Drive. School was only going to be starting next week. Hedwig hadn't returned yet, even though he was really excited for Sally's reply. He wanted to visit the Weasleys, but he changed his mind because he didn't want to be a constant bother. Harry considered practicing with Phoenix but was afraid that he'd disturb the other guests. He constantly paced around, trying to combat the boredom. Lazing on the window, Harry let out a soft sigh.

A sharp knock on his door brought him back to reality. Harry dashed to the door and ripped it open, he was met by the kind smile of Tom.

"Hi Tom, what's up?"

Before Tom could even reply, Harry was tackled by a blur of red. Dazed, Harry looked up at the smiling face of Ron.

"What are you doing here, mate? Well, anything is better than your relatives place. Anyway, I hope you're excited because we're taking you to the Quidditch World Cup Finals tomorrow! And also, Mum wants to invite you to stay with us until school starts!"

Harry was a mess but at the mention of The Burrow, he snapped back to attention and happily nodded. Ron was beaming as he dragged Harry down to the Floo. Harry had barely managed to grab his things but had his backpack slung on one shoulder by the time they were on the ground floor. Mrs Weasley was also there, waiting for Harry with a warm smile.

"Ah there you are Harry, it's nice to know you'll be staying with us."

"C'mon mate, let's go to the Floo."

Harry had a bunch of Floo Powder in his clenched fist when he remembered something and turned back. Ron had already gone through and Mrs Weasley was waiting for him. Harry went to Tom and thanked him gratefully.

Tom shook his head and reassured that it was no big deal. With that, Harry went back to the fireplace and tossed the powder in.

"The Burrow" And emerald flames burst up and engulfed him. He felt the unwelcome feeling rise in his stomach and he was soon violently chucked out of the Floo. Rubbing his head a little, Harry looked up only to see a mass amount of red heads sporting amused looks. Embarrassed, Harry quickly scrambled to his feet and pretended like nothing had happened. Hermione pushed her way to the front of the crowd and gave Harry a hug.

"Nice to see you again, Harry! Nice landing, by the way." She flashed him a cheeky smirk as Harry dusted himself off. Ginny also came forward and hugged him and gave him a playful punch to the shoulder alongside a greeting. The twins were in the corner, probably plotting a prank for him. Harry felt chills go down his spine as Mrs Weasley emerged from the fireplace.

Going into her mothering mode, she fussed," Oh Harry what exactly were you doing at the Leaky Cauldron of all places?! You could have been attacked and put in danger!"

Harry was slightly surprised but he quickly let out a flurry of apologies. Appeased that Harry had learnt his lesson, Mrs Weasley stepped into the kitchen and set about whipping up a meal for him. Ron excitedly grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him to his room.

"Mate, I'm so excited for the Quidditch World Cup Finals tomorrow, Bulgaria's playing Ireland! We might even get to meet Viktor Krum!"

Ron was basically vibrating with excitement, and Harry was still confused about who this Krum person was and he raised his question. Ron looked like he was going to explode at Harry's ignored him and dumped his meagre belongings on the small bed. Then, Hermione entered the room, shutting Ron up.

"Harry, is that all you're bringing to Hogwarts?" She raised an eyebrow and skeptically pointed a finger at his backpack which was already ripping apart at the seams. Harry hadn't really thought it through when he had made his Great Escape from the Dursleys, he flashed her a sheepish grin and she rolled her eyes in reply.

"Well, we're either going today or after the World Cup Finals tomorrow, but I think that Diagon Alley is going to be absurdly crowded then so we are going to buy you some books today. Then maybe we can all have a short study session to familiarize ourselves with the curriculum. " Hermione had a serious spark in her eyes. Harry wanted to argue but decided against it as she would most likely go into lecture mode on the importance of studying beforehand and it would be endless. He nodded his head and Hermione ordered him and Ron to hurry up and get ready.

"But Hermione, Harry just got back from the Leaky Cauldron. At least let the poor guy rest!" Ron had cut in. Hermione immediately shut him up with one of her most terrifying glares," Well, it seems to me that if he can deal with you yammering away about Quidditch, he can go on a simple shopping trip. Meet me downstairs in 10 minutes, got it? " Ron snapped his mouth shut and nodded with a very soft "yes, ma'am"

" Ron, you're so whipped." Harry snickered while Ron was dumbfounded," What does that even mean?!"

Ignoring Ron, Harry decided to take the time to rest while Ron got ready. He laid down on the bed and rolled around, the scent was as welcoming as ever: the smell of lavender with a tinge of cinnamon. Harry adored the smell and before he knew it Ron was ready and had already dragged him down the stairs to meet Hermione.

She was sitting at the table drinking some freshly-made soup and chatting happily with Ginny. Ginny spotted them and motioned them over.

"Alright woman, we're ready. Off we go to Diagon Alley." Ron said with false enthusiasm. Hermione smacked him on the arm as Harry and Ginny giggled to each other. Mrs Weasley saw them standing in front of the fireplace and simply ordered that they be back by dinner time.

"Sure, Mum" /" Yes, Mrs Weasley." was heard before each of them took turns stepping into the fireplace. Harry made sure to say "Diagon Alley" right this time, lest he end up at Knockturn Alley again. The unwelcome feeling pooled up in his stomach as Harry felt the familiar violent shove as he was pushed out. He managed to at least land on his feet this time and Hermione lent him a shoulder to steady himself on.

"Thanks Hermione." Harry shook his head wildly to make the nausea leave as Hermione lugged him off to Flourish and Blotts. Ginny was already leading the way, and was also scanning the crowd warily for any sight of the signature Malfoy blond hair. Satisfied that Lucius bloody Malfoy was nowhere in sight, she became less tense. Ron seemed to take notice of her obvious wariness and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"That darn Malfoy Senior won't be getting anywhere near you. We'll make sure he doesn't."

Ginny returned the smile as Ron's tone lightened significantly, "Who knows, we might even see Finnegan today and you can stop going on and on about how his accent is the best thing since sliced bread. "

Ginny was sputtering and flushing a brilliant red as the two Weasley's led the way to Flourish and Blotts. Hermione stepped in first, inhaling the musty scent of the bookstore. She let out a contented sigh that creeped her companions out. How could someone be so happy around bloody books?

"We're not really going to need much this year, just a few books and some dress robes. Unfortunately, Harry has decided to totally ditch his belongings at his _house_ so we've got to get him a whole wardrobe at that." Harry had thought that Hermione was going to scream about how irresponsible that was but she leaned in and lowly muttered," We all understand why, Ron and the twins told us about the bars on your windows from Second Year when they came to pick you up. It didn't take much to figure out that you had horribly undesirable relatives. We would have asked you to stay with us, but the blood wards really only work because of them. Dumbledore assured us that you were alright but looking at you….. we're horribly sorry we weren't there for you Harry." There were a few tears in her eyes threatening to spill out. Harry gave her a hug.

"Don't worry Hermione, I've survived worse. Now do enlighten me why we are required to get dress robes this year?"

Hermione looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end snapped her mouth shut before opening it again. She brushed the tears off with the sleeve of her robe and went into lecture mode. Immediately, she went on and on about dress robes and the occasions they applied to.

Happy that the usual Hermione was back, Harry smiled and went to search for his books.

An hour later, the both of them walked out with Ginny and Ron.

"Before we go get our dress robes, Harry's got to go get some money from Gringotts." Hermione worriedly turned to the Weasleys, afraid that Ron would go into his standard sullen state that appeared when money was involved.

"Look mate, I was horribly jealous of you when we were younger. I still am a little jealous of you, I'll admit. But I'm growing older now, and hopefully more mature. You've had to go through so many terrible things that you were probably cursed as a child and then because I was jealous of you and figured things would work out for you in the end, I didn't support you, my "best" friend. Harry, I swear that I will be a better friend. Will you forgive me?"

Harry didn't know what to say, he was still trying to process everything that just happened. He tentatively grasped Ron's outstretched hand and shook it, "We can try." Ron returned his grin as Ginny smirked,

"You know, the only reason Ron finally decided to grow up was 'cause Mum and Dad caught wind of his actions and scolded him until he learned how to be more understanding. It's a good thing too, we were all getting sick of how much of a prat he could be. It's not much, Harry, but you've got the Weasley family behind you all the way."

"Thanks guys." He didn't say much, but the grateful look on his face was all it took for them to know that he had forgiven them. How one could be so magnanimous, they didn't know, they were just happy that his relatives never took away that aspect of Harry's.

* * *

 _24 August 1994_

 _ **Gringotts**_

Hermione and him had gone to Gringotts while Ginny and Ron went to get their robes first.

"Back again, Harry Potter?"

Griphook raised an (eyebrow?) at him as he stuttered out a response. He took the key and passed it over. Hermione waited outside as he stepped into the cart. Harry looked out for the same black door that he had seen the first time, but strangely, it was nowhere in sight. He glanced at where he had seen it in the first place and only saw a standard vault door, albeit there was a lot more fog surrounding it than before. The eye catching door was nowhere in sight, perhaps it was the curious amount of fog now occupying the Gringotts Caverns. Harry was absolutely sure that he had seen a huge black door in the first place, heck, Griphook had even confirmed it. Yet, where was that door that seemingly called out to him?

Harry let out a sigh and chalked it up to the mysterious Goblin magic that he had heard so much about. The cart soon came to a halt and Griphook unlocked the vault door. Unsure about the exact prices of dress robes, Harry decided to fill up his backpack as much as possible. Unfortunately, he completely forgot to factor in the exact weight of the numerous shiny gold coins.

Harry was lying on the cold hard floor, having just attempted to lift up his worn backpack. The straps had snapped off and the bag came crashing down to the floor, pulling him down along with it. His head smashed against the stone floor and he was still dazed from the shock. He didnt want to open hi eye, for he knew that Griphook was definitely laughing at him.

Exactly as he had thought, Griphook gave him a snarky smile, "You do know we offer pouches that can hold three times as much as this, right?" Harry shakily handed him a Galleon and Griphook tossed him a brown pouch he had seemingly pulled out of nowhere.

"Pleasure doing business with you."

Embarrassed, Harry hurriedly shoved all the Galleons he had taken into the pouch as Griphook looked on, amused. The pouch in his hand practically weighed nothing at all, the continuous stream of Galleons being shoved into it did not even slow it down from gulping it all down endlessly. Once he was done, Harr picked himself up like nothing had just happened, Harry coughed and asked to leave.

"Very well."

The cart ride was faster than the one before. The light from outside the caverns hit Harry almost instantly. He squinted and could make out the familiar form of Hermione fussing over his well-being. Griphook pulled himself out of the cart with so much grace that a pureblood would be ashamed. Harry, by comparison, had flopped out the cart.

"Thanks a lot Griphook, may your gold ever flow."

"May your coffers never empty. See anything this time, Heir Potter?"

Griphook took notice of his exceedingly confused expression and walked away, muttering 'curious' over and over again.

* * *

 _ **Author's note:** Hiya guys! Well, that's the end of this chapter and I'm really sorry I haven't been updating lately. School has been really hectic lately. Hopefully, the updates will be a lot smoother. But for now I hope you're satisfied with how the story is flowing. I didn't want Ron and Hermione bashing in this fic so I sorta just… resolved that in this chapter. It was a little forced but at least that's out of the way. Ginny doesn't have a crush on Harry and treats him more like a brother. Mostly because I don't ship HPGW. Also, I'm experimenting wih different ways to line break and hopefully it doesn't bother you. As always, please review and constructive criticism is always welcome! :D_

 _Updated: now with line breaks_


	6. Preparation

_Preparations_

* * *

 _24th August 1994  
_

 _ **Diagon Alley**_

The pair soon exited Gringotts and headed towards Madam Malkins. Harry was clutching his beat up backpack, now with the two straps freshly torn off at the seams. His newly bought pouch was safely inside the backpack. Harry carried it in front of him, his two hands supporting it from below, pulling the backpack towards him. The books he had already bought from Flourish and Blotts were also tucked inside.

Beside him, Hermione was humming happily. She had went on a total shopping spree and was satisfied with her haul. The two of them made their way to Madam Malkins. After that, Hermione had suggested getting Harry a trunk.

"Merlin, Hermione, I'm telling you, I don't need a bloody trunk!"

"And I'm telling you that we are getting you one after we get our dress robes. You left everything back at your relatives' place and you are not going back to get them, they're probably really mad at you for escaping and will most likely try something. We are not, I repeat, not going to let that happen."

She pinned him with a stern look and Harry soon gave in to her demands. He wasn't very used to this side of his friend, but he sure was happy that they were at least caring for him. Their friendship had been damaged ever since the mayhem that was Second Year. Harry could remember the suspicious glances Ron had flashed him when he thought Harry wasn't looking. And although Hermione had been one of the few who hadn't turned on him after his Parselmouth ability was revealed, he could always feel the underlying caution she had whenever she was around him. His friends had been influenced by the prejudice of the Wizarding World against Parselmouths.

It's not like Harry couldn't relate, if he wasn't the one constantly being ostracized, if he wasn't the Ione with the Dark ability to speak to snakes, he most likely would have also followed the opinion of everyone around him: Being a Parselmouth was the equivalent of being evil. Yet, when his very first friends started having their guard up around him, Harry was just… hurt. He perfectly understood their reasonings, but he had been hurt by their disloyalty.

The situation had eventually cooled down after Third Year. That year was a drastic contrast to how he had been treated the previous year. After Sirius had broken out of prison, everyone was definitely wary, but they were also worried for him instead of about him. He was grateful, but had also thoroughly experienced how flimsy the loyalty of the general public was. One moment they all wore sympathetic expressions and shot him concerned glances, the next moment they could be proclaiming him the next Dark Lord for all he knew.

Currently, Hermione was giving him a determined look, reassuring him that she would be there for him. Harry hated all the attention he received, being the Boy-Who-Lived and all. But this, this was the kind of attention that he sought out desperately: the kind of attention that one would show for someone they cared about. It was in the way Sirius spoke to him, it was in Remus' voice when he had been teaching him. Now, Harry felt something warm in his chest when he could also sense it in Hermione's words.

* * *

 _24th August 1994_

 _ **Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions**_

Harry was snapped out of his musings as Hermione pulled him through the doors of Madam Malkins.

"Ah welcome. Hogwarts students, I presume? How can I help you today?"

The tiny figure of Madam Malkin greeted him from her counter. She looked to have been working on a design of sorts, judging by all the crumpled parchment balls that were scattered all over the floor.

"Well, if it isn't Mr Potter. Come to get new school robes or perhaps dress robes? I have a newly-acquired bolt of fabric that would look great on you. Oh, and who is this lovely young lady you've brought with you today?"

Harry was blushing a little and Hermione smoothly stepped in front of him.

"Granger. Hermione Granger. We would like to get some dress robes for this year."

"Perfect! I've got so many designs that I'd like to try!"

Madam Malkin excitedly gave her wand a wave as numerous numbers of dresses and robes drifted throughout the air. Each one had a unique design, but all were beautiful. Some dresses had shining gems fixed onto them via magic while some robes had intricate designs embroidered into them. The pair was mystified, shocked and shaken by the clothing whirlwind that had been created in the shop. In the center of it all, was Madam Malkin with her wand raised and her eyes swiftly scanning through all the different options with intense focus.

"No, the colour won't work. Agh, too gaudy. Hmm, I should really redo this one. That one won't work with her hair. This one makes him look short."

Finally, she turned around to the pair to ask them for input but was surprised to find them being wrapped up in different pieces of clothing. Sheepishly, she cancelled the spell and all the clothing quickly returned to the neat rows they had been in. Only now, instead of hanging on racks, they were levitating in a straight line.

"Sorry about that," Madam Malkin let out a nervous laugh,"Now, what kind of dress robes would each of you like?"

As always, Hermione already had an answer.

"Well, a few dresses caught my eye when they were flying around. This one, this one and those two."

Hermione walked over and pulled each dress of the invisible clothing line that they were hanging on. She had to tiptoe and stretch a bit for the last one but soon she was walking back with the chosen dresses slung across her arm. She and Madam Malkin headed off to the dressing room while Hermione went on and on, "So ma'am, I really liked the cut of this dress but this other one has a really nice colour to it and this one…" Madam Malkin was listening intently to Hermione, wanting to match the dress to her customer's taste as much as possible. She told Harry to look around for a robe that caught his eye as the door to the dressing room closed with a soft click.

Left alone in the store surrounded by floating robes and dresses, Harry sighed and went to find the most appealing one. He brushed his hand over the fabric of each robe, enjoying how soft and silky it was. Harry had never chosen his own clothing before, that could be attributed to the Dursley's, and thus, was utterly lost and overwhelmed by the sheer amount of options. They all seemed appealing to him, but he couldn't make a decision. Harry eventually settled for one of the robes in the back, hidden by the puffy dresses in front of them. It had a rather simple design to it, nothing too showy but it wasn't anything to brag about. Having nothing to do, Harry settled himself onto one of the cushioned seats in the store.

Hermione soon emerged with a single dress in hand, it had a silver sheen to the fabric and a few well-placed gems running along the side of the fabric. She wore a satisfied grin as Madam Malkin happily came over to help Harry.

"Have you made your choice, Mr. Potter?"

Harry passed the selected robe over to her as she raised it up and examined it. She shook her head disapprovingly.

"No no no, this won't do at all. Mr Potter, are you sure you want this robe?"

Unconfidently shrugging, Harry replied, "Um well, if it isn't too much trouble, could you help me pick one out?"

Hermione also offered to help him just as Madam Malkin agreed. The two then proceeded to share opinions as they tossed several different robes at him. They disagreed as often as they squealed at their similar opinions. Harry stood awkwardly in the dressing room having been ushered there with several hard pushes from both females. What went down next was something Harry absolutely refused to ever experience again, he was forced to put on different robes behind a screen and stand there while the two scanned him critically and exchanged comments for every single robe. They finally settled on combining four different robes together and Hermione left the dressing room while Madam Malkin worked her magic. Harry froze there as he felt the robe being altered to fit him. The flying needles zooming all over the place gave him chills up his spine.

Finally, finally, they left the dressing room. Madam Malkin packaged the dress robes for them, and Hermione then dumped some normal clothes she had picked out for Harry while he was in the dressing room onto the counter. Madam Malkin rung up their purchase as Harry and Hermione paid for their respective clothing. When they left the store, Harry was lugging two huge bags of clothing while Hermione held a small package in her arms.

"Did you really have to get all this?!" Harry whined to Hermione. She rolled her eyes and cast a wandless Shrinking Charm. Harry heaved a sigh of relief as he dropped the two now tiny bags into his backpack. Hugging the backpack protectively to his chest, Harry relaxed.

"Now come on, we've got to go meet Ron and Ginny. They wanted to help you pick out a trunk."

"How did they even know that I was getting a bloody trunk? Did you guys conspire to get me one before I even came to The Burrow?"

"...No."

* * *

 _ **Diagon Alley**_

Hermione picked up the pace and led him to the store. Expertly pushing through the crowd, she pulled Harry along. She had cut through several alleys and several shops to get to the store. When Harry asked her how she knew her way around Diagon Alley, she responded with,"Read it in a book somewhere." Currently, they were looking around for their two redhead companions. However, the flaming red Weasley hair was not spotted. Seeing them nowhere in the vicinity, they resolved to wait outside the shop. Hermione leaned against a pole while Harry was against a wall. He placed his backpack on the pavement a caught his breath.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask you. What's with the bangle? You've been wearing that thing since you came to the Burrow. You don't really strike me as a jewellery person, Harry."

Startled by the sudden mention of Phoenix, Harry instinctively placed a protective hand over it. He ran his fingers over the engravings, instantly calming him down. Hermione raised a concerned brow but didn't interrupt. Harry wanted to tell her everything that had happened, from his meeting Sally in America to the meeting with the old lady and the three things she gifted him. He wanted to show how stunning Phoenix was in sword form. However, as the words were on his tongue, Harry suddenly hesitated. He was unsure why he did but something felt wrong with telling Hermione. His mind recalled what Griphook had said,

" _We don't get much of your kind around here, if you fancy a continued existence, don't talk about it."_

Even though Harry was unsure of what was the source of this paranoia, he shoved the words on his tongue back down his throat.

"Oh, this? Um..I bought it from this lady. It's a good luck charm, I guess?" Hermione was slightly unconvinced but she didn't pry. With a shrug, she let the subject go. Luckily, before the awkward air managed to settle in around them, the two aforementioned redheads were dashing towards them. Both Ginny and Ron had already gotten their dress robes, signified by the two bags in their hands. Ron topped just in front of Harry, wheezing and trying to catch his breath. Ginny was in a similar state although she was considerate enough to shield her mouth behind her hand as she took in deep breaths.

"Sorry guys, we were going to head over here after getting our dress robes and a sandwich but Ginny here just had to go talk to Finegann who was waiting in line. We lost track of time and rushed here."

Ginny flushed but aimed a well-placed kick to Ron's shin. He yelped at the assault as Ginny smugly gloated. Hermione and Harry both tried to stifle their giggles Ron still noticed it.

He was redder than his hair right now.

"Humph, let's go get Harry's trunk quickly so that I can ice this back at home." Ron groaned and limped into the store as the three behind him laughed at the amusing sight. "Darn it Ginny, did you have to kick so hard? This is definitely going to bruise."

Stepping into their final destination, Harry gazed around at the different trunks. They ranged from the largest ones he had ever seen to the smallest boxes that one could easily carry around. The two redheads went around scanning the different items. Both of them were intently observing every one, as if any blemish or flaw was unacceptable. Harry gave a soft chhuckle as the two started bickering over differing opinions. Hermione hd taken a seat and was watching them with a small smirk.

The young shopkeeper caught sight of them and scrambled to his feet, alerted from the newspaper he was reading.

"And what can I interest my esteemed customers in today?" The shopkeeper took a dramatic bow as he gave a grin, displaying the missing tooth he had that was growing back.

"Actually, we're here to get a trunk for Harry over here. Do you have anything that would be suitable for him?" Ginny politely asked.

"Oh my! Harry Potter!" The shopkeeper's previous expression was now replaced by a starstruck look. Harry inwardly groaned but still politely bowed his head. "Well, I definitely have trunks that could interest a wizard of your caliber. I have a few freshly-made trunks in my workshop. Follow me."

Harry followed him into a room that smelled of sawdust but had a lingering scent of tea from the kettle boiling above the fireplace. The shopkeeper directed Harry's attention to his works.

"Here are my masterpieces, I just made them a week ago. The charms placed on them are as fresh and strong as ever. Multi-layered bottomless trunks, you could store a whole library in here. I couldn't be prouder. Each one of them has security wards on them so people can't go snooping through your things. For a little extra Galleons, I could put your name on the trunk and maybe add a few more wards if you want to be extra secure."

"Great, um I'll take the second one." Harry hastily agreed before the man could launch into a speech on how proud he was of his creations. Harry decided to choose the trunk that looked the least others were decked out in bright, eye-catching colours. The shopkeeper happily agreed and took the Galleons Harry handed him. He picked up the trunk and hoisted it on the table. A serious look now occupied his face.

Immediately, he grabbed Harry's hand and before Harry could retort, the shopkeeper pointed his wand the trunk. A silvery thread left the man's and as it sunk into the trunk. Not long after, the shopkeeper placed

Harry's open palm onto the surface. Although he was distressed, Harry couldn't pull his hand away from the man's firm grip. Harry felt his magic thrum and flow into the trunk. Finally, the glow died down and Harry was presented with a shrunken trunk.

"Oh yeah! Mister Potter, could I request a favour?"

Harry curiously quirked an eyebrow and waited for him to continue.

"Can I publicise my store with your purchase? Just imagine, MY is one that the Harry Potter shopped at."

Harry hurriedly nodded and left the room while the shopkeeper was ecstatically muttering about how business would soar after the purchase Harry had made.

Harry reentered the main part of the store with his now tiny trunk also in the back pack.

"I've got my trunk now. Can we go back to the Burrow please?"

He shot them the most pleading looks he could muster as the rest of them nodded their heads. Soon, the four left the shop and headed back to the Burrow.

* * *

 _24th August 1994_

 _ **The Burrow**_

Harry was sorting through all the clothes that Hermione had chosen for him. He was grateful that she had had chosen normal clothing, nothing too overly flashy. She knew how much Harry would rather melt into the background and hated being the center of attention. She also took it in mind to choose slightly less pricey ones as she knew Harry would disapprove the wastage of money on clothes no matt how much money he had in his vaults.

All of them were rather monotone in color and were made of some magical material that felt amazing on his skin. Harry also unshrunk his trunk and decided to give it a thorough screening. It had two latches securing it closed. The exterior of the box was made of what appeared to be dragon hide. Harry opened it and was pleasantly surprised by the soft velvet cloth outlining the interior.

Apparently it wouldn't fill up no matter how many items he would place inside. Shutting the trunk Harry admired the engraving of his name onto the dragon hide. In silvery gray letters were the words "Harry Potter". He was elated to have something that finally belonged to him, the trunk that he used prior to this one had belonged to Dudley.

Harry laid back on the bed. Ron had gone downstairs (unwillingly) to help Mrs Weasley clean up after everyone. He was left alone in the room. Harry could vaguely hear Hermione and Ginny laughing and chatting through the walls. Harry could also hear Fred and George plotting something sinister. He shivered and decided to leave them alone as he wasn't the target this time.

Looking out the well-placed window (or hole in the thin wall), Harry admired the beautiful and very dark night sky. It felt rather comfortable to him. Harry ran his thumb over Phoenix, the bangle warming up as if happy at being pet. Harry rested his head on the pillow, excited for the Quidditch World Cup Finals the next day. He shut his eyes before entering a pleasant sleep.

* * *

 _Hi guys, so this chapter was rather short. I kinda wanted to emphasise on the relationship between Harry and his friends more than the actual shopping. I dunno if i did it well but hope you like it. It's rather mellow now but I promise that action is coming :D As always, please review and feel free to leave constructive criticism!_


	7. Attack

_Attack_

* * *

 _25th August 1994_

 _ **The Burrow**_

Harry awoke to a redhead vigorously shaking him. He was unable to make out which redhead it was due to the intense morning sunlight shining on his face along with the fact that he could barely see without the aid of his glasses. He let out a groan as he pushed the blanket off him. Reaching over to the nightstand, Harry put on his glasses and was surprised to see that it was Fred( or George).

He let out a long yawn as the remnants of sleep slowly left him,"Good morning Fred, what's up?"

It appeared that he had guessed his identity correctly as Fred made no attempt to correct him, he looked a little surprised even.

"Well, Ron wanted to wake you up but Mom knew that that would probably end up with him blowing out your eardrums so she ordered me to wake you."

Harry was already sitting on the bed and trying to rise so that he could drag himself over to the bathroom to freshen up. To his dismay, he seemed to be stuck quite firmly onto the bed. Harry inhaled a deep breath and silently fumed, don't get him wrong he loved pranks, but why him and why now?. Fred was shooting him a smug grin as Harry tried to move his bum off the bed but was stuck to the bed by a Sticking Charm. He was also pretty sure George was in the vicinity listening in intently..

"Seriously, Fred? You too George,wherever you are. It's way too early for this. And this one's not even that good." Harry raised a disgruntled eyebrow to Fred as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Fred gave him a pout but sighed and admitted,"You're right, this one wasn't even good enough to be called a prank," He raised his voice significantly,"See what happens when you skip the planning phase?" Harry assumed he was yelling at George. Well, that eliminated his theory about their possible twin telepathy. George yelled back something that Harry failed to hear, but apparently Fred did as he had rolled up his sleeves and was marching out," Reaalllly now? Come over here and we'll settle this!"

Harry opened his mouth to ask for some help with the Sticking Charm currently holding him to the bed but Fred was already gone. Grumbling, Harry tried to peel himself off the bed. Unfortunately for him, the Charm was relatively strong. Harry planted both hands on the bed, trying to lift himself off. He was most definitely not taking off his sleep pants to escape.

Suddenly, he felt a part of the bed sheet starting to separate from him. Harry was surprised, that was supposedly a rather strong Charm. He moved his arms a little more apart to gain more leverage but much to his dismay, it appeared that the Charm had recovered and he felt the whole of the bed sticking to him again. Confused, Harry assumed his previous position. He watched what happened carefully this time. He noticed how Phoenix was pressed against the bed sheet.

Harry let out an extremely surprised gasp when the part that Phoenix had come into contact with started to unstick itself from him. His eyebrows rose extremely high as he started to push Phoenix against different parts of the sheet. After much wriggling, Harry managed to pry himself off the bed. He looked back down at the bed. The blanket that he had shifted while trying to get off the bed appeared to be stuck in place. His guess was proven when he tried to pull off the blanket only for it to be held firmly in place by the Charm.

Harry stared in wonder at Phoenix, it could neutralise magic. It seemed that Phoenix could only do it temporarily though, evidenced by the blanket currently stuck to the bed.

Wait, did that mean that spells cast on Phoenix wouldn't work? Excitedly, Harry took it off and placed it on the nightstand. He grabbed his wand from under his pillow and tried to levitate it.

" _Wingardium Leviosa."_

The bangle barely moved an inch after the spell was cast. He stared at the gold accessory intently as he began to form different guesses on the extent of the bangle's ability. Anyone who saw this scene would definitely be disturbed.

With too much dopamine in his head, Harry giddily shot it with a spell Remus had taught him. The word rolled off his tongue before he could think straight.

" _Reducto!"_ Just as he had cast the spell, Harry immediately regretted it. Oh gosh, what had he done now? What if Phoenix couldn't neutralise that? Harry was already picturing the small pile of ashes that Phoenix would end up as, the wind blowing them away. Merlin, please let Phoenix be alright.

Harry let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding in as the blue light hit Phoenix and seemingly dissipated into nothing. He quickly put Phoenix on and thanked Merlin that nothing had happened. He was ready to shed tears of joy at that point. After mentally berating himself, Harry soon realised Phoenix's immense potential in a fight. It was strong enough to neutralise a near point-blank Reducto. Yet, it didn't seem to disrupt his magic casting abilities. His bangle was definitely way more special than neither he nor the old lady had given it credit for.

Immensely proud of his bangle, Harry slipped it onto his wrist and headed to the bathroom to freshen up before heading down for breakfast. The bangle gave him an angry sting as if to alert him of its annoyance. Harry let out a yelp of surprise as he muttered an apology to it instinctively. He wasn't very surprised at the bangle's (maybe) sentience. At that moment, nothing could really bring his mood down.

Assured that Phoenix was strong enough for him to continue testing its abilities, Harry decided to continue testing it further on the future. He would probably give it a heads up first. Maybe it could understand what he said? Would he have another companion like Hedwig? Well, if it didn't it would be embarrassing for him to be talking to an old piece of jewelry/weapon.

Harry left the bathroom and basically skipped down the stairs. Several energetic faces greeted him. Ginny was munching her sausages and Hermione was sipping her tea. Mr Weasley looked up from his newspaper and greeted him. The twins' chairs were empty. Probably because they might have been having internal disputes. Charlie and Bill were having a conversation and Percy was engrossed in his book. Ron was speed eating his food, too excited by the Finals that were taking place later.

"Harry, good morning. You've got about an hour to get ready before we leave for the Finals. Quidditch matches can go on for days so I suggest that you pack enough to last you. Ron can help you."

Harry nodded in acknowledgement to Mr Weasley as he sat down for breakfast. He finished it in no time flat, Mrs Weasley's food was scrumptious as always.

Ron grabbed him by the hand and they rushed back to the room. The following packing process consisted mainly of Ron yelling about whatever he needed and Harry swiftly placing that into his small bag. After they finished packing, Harry lifted the flap over the opening and the bag closed with a soft click. It was as inconspicuous as ever, giving away no hints about what was inside.

The two of them were called back down and they grabbed their bags and ran down the stairs. Everyone was already ready, each carrying their own bag.

Seeing as everyone was there, Mr Weasley announced,"The venue for this year's Finals is rather distant. But no worries, I've managed to snag us a portkey there. We have enough time to get comfortable in our tents before the match starts."

He reached into a brown leather pouch and started handing out little badges. Each had either a Bludger, Quaffle or a Snitch painted on it. They looked like they had been bought straight from a gift shop.

"The activation words are 'Go, Ireland'." Mr Weasley gave a cheerful wink when he was met with a whole room of disbelieving looks. "Let's just say that someone in the Department of Magical Sports and Games is an Ireland fan." With that said, he took out his own portkey.

Everyone grasped their bags tightly and clenched their stomachs, ready for the familiar nauseating feeling that came with a portkey. They gripped their portkeys tightly and said the activation words in unison. Harry felt the eggs he had for breakfast threatening to climb up from his stomach. This was a hundred times worse than the Floo. Before he knew it, he was on his knees on solid ground, he accidentally inhaled the dust and choked.

* * *

 _25th August 1994_

 _ **Before the Stadium**_

Getting up to his feet, Harry paused for a moment for him to get a solid image of his surroundings. They were currently amidst a large horde of magical folk who paid no heed to the strangers who had popped out of nowhere. Wizards and witches of all ages and backgrounds were rushing around, there were people on broomsticks zooming around freely above them.

Many booths were marketing merchandise of the two teams. It was easy to see how much support either team had by observing how much of the sea of people was painted bright green or black and red. Harry could vaguely make out the silhouette of the stadium in the distance.

On the way to their tent, the group got a little sidetracked shopping for merchandise to show their support. Mr Weasley had run into a few people he knew and stopped for the ensuing conversation. Fred and George pulled pranks on unsuspecting passerbys. They had settled their dispute apparently.

All in all, it had taken way longer than necessary to reach their tent. They had even run into Lord Diggory and his son, Cedric. Mr Weasley greeted Lord Diggory and had a quick chat. The younger ones exchanged a few words with Cedric before they continued heading for the tent. The two older men hastily bid each other goodbye as Mr Weasley sped off to catch up with the rest of the group.

The group approached the tiny tent that was way bigger on the inside. Harry was amazed by the effects of the spell work on the tent. Everyone claimed a part of it as their quarters and settled in. Harry put his bag down and decided to get started on the book Hermione had given him.

Ron and Ginny went out to explore but not before lightheartedly giving Harry disappointed shakes of their heads. Charlie and Bill went out along with them as chaperones. Harry shrugged and nestled into his chair. Hermione squealed how proud she was of him and swiftly pulled out a book from her bag as well. Percy had also decided to remain in the tent and was working on something. Harry flipped the cover page open and started his light reading .The spell on the tent didn't manage to totally cancel the sounds coming from outside but it muffled them enough. It was quiet in the tent, one could only hear Percy muttering to himself.

* * *

 _25th August 1994_

 _ **Quidditch World Cup Stadium**_

The book was surprisingly interesting and Harry found himself immersed in it. He had only been lightly browsing at first but was soon engrossed in the book. The diagrams in the book enhanced his overall experience. Harry considered himself a rather slow reader as Hermione had long finished her book and was already napping at her corner of the tent. Percy had already left, Harry didn't know when.

The silence in the tent was broken when Ron burst in, already bouncing with excitement.

"Come on, mate! I can't believe you're still reading. The Finals start in two hours. We gotta go to the stadium!"

`Harry unceremoniously dumped his book on the table before getting out of his chair and rushing out. Hermione had already woken up and was trailing behind them.

"You should've come with us instead of just staying in the tent, Fred and George pranked Malfoy Jr. You just had to miss it." Ron sulked before getting a smug look, probably because he was recalling the encounter. "The others are already at their seats. I swear, if I didn't come for you two, you would have missed the Finals!"

After much walking, the trio finally reached the stadium. The grand structure towered over them. The cheers and chatter of the spectators resounded throughout it. There were many people squeezing and shoving, all wanted to get to their seats quickly. The guards stationed there were struggling to enforce order. Some had even been washed away by the crowd.

They made their way through throngs of people, pushing and squeezing to get to their seats. They saw a few familiar faces amidst the crowd but had lost sight of them before even getting to say 'hello'.

Mr Weasley spotted them and waved them over. They scuttled over and relaxed when they finally reached their destination. After settling down into their seats, Harry leaned over the railing to get a better look. Huge spectator stands surrounded the green field below. They had relatively great seats, it was far enough that they could observe the match clearly, but still rather near to the action.

The stadium was a typical open air one, if one ignored the thick magical aura radiating from it, they would probably treat it as any regular old stadium.(Also ignoring the fact that it was probably around 500 feet above ground)

Fred and George moved over and declared Harry's unfestive attire as blasphemy. They promptly dumped an oversized hat sporting red and black colours onto his head. Harry pushed his hair out of the way and turned to see Hermione with a similar hat, just that this one was green in colour. She was wearing an additional scarf along with it. She took no notice of her additional accessories as she was in awe admiring the sights from their seats. As if reading her mind, Ron leaned over and remarked, "Told you Dad got us some good seats." Just as Harry wanted to reply, he noticed the broomstick of the players peaking out of their respective entrances.

The rest of the spectators seemed to notice this as well and a wave of silence soon washed over them. The announcer gripped his wand and welcomed the players in a loud booming voice. The Sonorus Charm that had been cast was quite obvious. Each team drew countless cheers from their supporters. The players flew out while their entrances were accompanied by spectacular sights.

Ireland had leprechauns throwing gold around, a symbol of their nation. The amount of lights was blinding, but Harry couldn't tear his eyes away. Some spectators scrambled around for the fallen gold as Hermione giggled,"That's leprechaun gold, it looks and feels like a solid Galleon but it's not worth anything. It'll probably disappear in a while."

Bulgaria's entrance was equally, if not more, amazing. There were Veela cheerleaders all over the stadium. They moved in harmony, in sync with the players flying overhead. Almost all the male spectators were caught up in their allure. Harry mysteriously found no urge to even get near them. He looked over to see Ron inching dangerously over the railing. Hermione whacked him over the head with a book she had brought along. He snapped out of his trance and flashed her a sheepish apologetic grin.

The cheers died down to a soft hush as Minister Fudge gave his addressing speech. He declared the start of the match while releasing a white light into the stadium. The moment it disappeared the players sped into action. Although it was still quite loud in general, the crowd broke into louder screams whenever a Quaffle made it past the Keeper or a Bludger hit an opposing player. The announcer was trying to commentate on the whole match, trying hard to keep up with everything that was happening. Harry's eyes were fixed on the Seekers, they were both on high alert, looking out for the signature twinkle of the Snitch.

The Bulgarian Seeker, Viktor Krum, Harry corrected himself, had just dodged an incoming Bludger and seemed to have spotted the Snitch. The Irish Seeker caught sight of this and gave chase. The following showdown took his breath away, it was nothing like the ones he had with Malfoy. Those even seemed like child's play by comparison. The Seekers circled around each other, trying to push the other off their broom while flying at dangerously high speeds. They pulled off death-defying tricks that made the crowd restless. Each of them pursued the Snitch almost fanatically. They closed in on it and were reaching out desperately.

In the end, Krum had managed to snag the Snitch just barely. The spectators let out deafening screams. He lifted it triumphantly over his head only to be crushed when the scores revealed that Ireland had won. One side of the stadium groaned while the other cheered madly.

The players flew back to the middle of the field and shook hands. The crowd cheered in unison. Some of the players also were giving their teammates comforting pats. The two teams returned to their respective changing rooms, one definitely more happy than the other.

* * *

 _25th August 1994_

 _ **Before the Stadium**_

After the match, the spectators filed out of the stadium. It was cramped and uncomfortable but Harry was still quite high on adrenaline and was chatting animatedly with Ron. They followed the crowd and made their way back to the tent after much squeezing. They walked past a group of journalists that interviewing the players, a horde of dedicated fans surrounded them, ready to pounce on the players and get their things signed.

There were still many people who were pushing to get to their own tent quickly, and many were still discussing about the match. The merchandise sellers were yelling even louder to encourage people to buy their wares. They had managed to get back to their own tent and were already gathering their belongings. Harry slung his bag over one shoulder and placed his book back into the bag, he was ready to leave the tent.

For some reason, there seemed to be more noise coming from outside the tent. It was still muffled but definitely louder.

He peered out of the tent but was horrified as the cheerful atmosphere was destroyed and all festivities were shut down. Witches and wizards alike were screaming in horror as explosions lit up the place. Many bodies laid limp on the cold, hard ground. Banners were ripped apart and the thick scent of smoke filled the air.

People who wore masks stormed towards them, each was letting out a flurry of spells and all were causing mass destruction. Many people were levitated in the air and tents were overturned or set on fire. Everyone ran for their lives as the mask-wearers moved closer. Some of them were laughing maniacally as they descended on the place. Mr Weasley turned to them and ordered Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, Harry and Hermione to quickly run to the forest while they assisted the aurors.

Ron wanted to retort but Hermione grabbed his hand and pulled him away. They were running into the surrounding forest as the destruction increased. The fire had become larger and was still growing, some brave wizards and witches were trying to put it out with many Aguamentis. It was utter chaos as many were either scrambling to safety or to their tents to retrieve their things.

In the midst of all the chaos, the twins and Ginny got separated from Ron, Harry and Hermione. Harry looked around worriedly while constantly yelling out for them.

"Will you shut up?! If they hear you, **we** are going to be the ones that end up dead!"

Draco Malfoy hissed at them, having run into them while escaping. He had emerged from behind a bush and had caught sight of them. Ron immediately retorted but Hermione yelled at the both of them to shut up. Malfoy was going to spit out an insult at her until Harry spoke up.

"Malfoy, if you don't shut up, I swear I'll-" Harry stopped talking as he heard footsteps rush toward them.

"Darn, run!" The four of them ran frantically from there as the footsteps chasing after them increased in speed, the owner probably had detected where they were. While sprinting away, Malfoy had split from the group. He had taken a left turn whilst they had gone right. The footsteps slowed before picking up the pace in their direction. The footsteps grew louder and louder, they could hear the voices of people in the distance. The trio soon found themselves cornered by a horde of mask-wearers.

They brandished their wands threateningly at them while the trio pulled out their own. The trio met each other's eyes, silently forming a battle plan. Ron signalled for them to make a run for it, while Hermione volunteered to create a distraction. The mask-wearers inched closer, trying to get a better target. The tension in the air could cut steel, each side was waiting for the other to make a move. Just as one of them lunged forward, unable to wait anymore, Hermione moved into action.

" _Lumos Maxima!"_ A blinding flash of light emerged as the trio shielded their eyes. The masks were of no help to their assailants and the trio took advantage of their daze to book it out of there. Hermione weaved her way through the trees, while Ron dodged behind a rock formation and continued from there. Harry sprinted away, erratically changing directions to throw them off.

They split up so as to decrease the chances of being tracked but Harry could still hear the violent thumping from behind him and knew that he had lost quite a lot of them, but not enough. He soon came face-to-face with solid rock. Knowing that there was no where else to run, Harry gripped his wand tighter. Phoenix thrummed excitedly, ready for a fight. A determined look occupied his face, Harry cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself and faded away from sight. He laid in wait patiently, ready to get the drop on his attackers.

* * *

 _ **Author's note:** Oooh cliffhanger, it feels so good to finally write one muahaha. I told you there was action coming up. Get ready for more in the next chapter! I gave Phoenix a special ability to cancel out magic but not too overpowered that it can literally erase magic. Currently, the story is mainly on the Harry Potter side of things but his demigod side should come into play in certain situations. Hope you like the story so far, and as always, please review and constructive criticism is always welcome! _


	8. Battle

_Battle_

* * *

 _25th August 1994_

 _ **In the forest**_

Harry stood deathly still, listening attentively for the incoming assailants. The sound of their heavy footsteps gradually increased, sending vibrations across the forest floor. Tearing through bushes, a group of mask-wearers emerged. There were still quite a few, but Harry could tell there were definitely lesser people than there could have been.

For that, he was thankful yet worried as the rest of them must have gone after Ron and he was worried, Harry reassured himself that they would fare well on their own,they each had their own ways of dueling and would be able to hold their own. Hermione was innovative in her spellwork while Ron was great at strategy along with his speedy casting, thus he turned his attention back to his own unwelcome company.

"Where is he?" One of them queried impatiently. Definitely a lackey, Harry noted. The leader at the front definitely seemed rather ticked at the lack of respect but chose not to comment.

"Split up and search, he couldn't have gotten far." The leader ordered in a gruff voice, he didn't tolerate any protests as the other mask-wearers stiffly nodded and followed. They split up, Harry gleefully cheered. He would stand a better chance against one or two of them than all of them at once. Most of them had left, trying to find him, only two were left behind, just in case their target tried to backtrack. He held in his breath when one of them walked dangerously near to him but soon turned back and walked away.

From the safety of his Disillusionment Charm, Harry counted how many enemies he had and which directions they had gone in. He was relieved as the sound of crunching leaves slowly faded and organised the information before letting out a soft sigh. The leader had gone up ahead, while one had gone left into the clearing, and one more had headed right. He could hear the constant muttering of _Finites_ and hoped that none were near enough to affect him. He had to quickly take a few or all of them out before one of them got it in his head to use a stronger spell.

Oh, what he would have given for his invisibility cloak. Harry's heartbeat suddenly shot up with worry as he realised that in his hurry to leave the Dursleys, he had left his cloak and map behind, along with multiple things that he held dear to his heart like his parents' photo album. What if the Dursleys had gotten their hands on it?! Harry cursed under his breath as he prayed that the weak wards that he had gotten engraved into his old trunk were more than enough to keep their grubby hands away from his belongings.

He forced himself to calm down and deal with that later when the two wizards in front of him sharply spun around, wands at the ready, before brushing whatever they had heard off and turning away.

These two definitely less wary than the others. Though they were still searching for him, it was nowhere near as hard as the others. They must have been newbies as they didn't have that crazed violent aura around them that the other mask-wearers seemed to carry like a second skin.

Harry noticed their shoulders starting to relax a bit and decided that there was no better time to strike. They had obviously let their guard down and Harry could hear neither the constant crunching of leaves whenever a step was taken nor the murmuring of spells in the distance. He whispered a soft _Stupefy_ while he pointed his wand at one of them. The wizard's body fell to the ground immediately. The other wizard was startled by his companion's sudden unconscious state and quickly took out his wand, waving it in any direction.

This momentary state of confusion was ruthlessly exploited as Harry shot a Tripping Jinx at him before finishing it off with a _Petrificus Totalus._ As one more body hit the ground, Harry caught sight of a mask glinting in the light somewhere in the distance along with hearing some shouting, alerting the other mask-wearers of their companions' apparent ambush.

He shot an _Incarcerous_ at it, not caring whether it hit or not. He just needed the extra time it bought him, the other wizard would probably take the time to dodge or, even better, get hit by the spell. He swiftly sprinted away the way he had come and smugly giggled when he heard the choked swear the wizard let out before collapsing with a thud. Three down, Harry thought.

He had been dashing away until he felt the feeling of something swooping over him. The feeling sent chills down his spine as he heard them shouting to each other, "There!" He gritted his teeth and picked up the pace.

And the chase resumed yet again. Harry had mapped out a few difficult turns that he would take in order to throw his pursuers off his trail. Weaving in between trees swiftly, Harry allowed the small amount of hope that he would get out of this unscathed to rise. As always, the infamous Potter luck struck yet again as two _Expulsos_ sailed over his head and topped a few trees down, effectively cutting off his path.

Harry, shocked by this sudden turn of events, froze momentarily. The moment he got his wits about him, there were already two hostile, irritated wizards holding him at wand point. He had raised his wand in a show of bravado, a spell on the tip of his tongue before it was violently ripped away from his grasp.

Harry watched helplessly as his magic flow through the wand was abruptly severed and his wand zoomed over to one of his assailants' hand. He felt disgust rise in his stomach as the wizard looked at his wand, running his finger over the wood, admiring it like some sort of prize one had gotten from a hunt.

The other wizard advanced dangerously, confident that Harry was helpless. He seemed like he wanted to make this slow and painful for Harry, as he had caused them much trouble. Harry was still grinding his teeth in anger while bemoaning his fate, until Phoenix thrummed against his skin, sensing his panic and reminding him of its presence. He allowed the warm feeling that Phoenix suddenly radiated to run through his body. Harry felt hope start to rise yet again in his heart as he wrapped his fingers around Phoenix.

"My, my, if it isn't Harry Potter, saviour of the Wizarding World," The wizard had a wickedly gleeful tone,"Don't worry, your death will serve as the foundation of a glorious future for the rest of us. All you have to do, is stay still, and everything will be over soon."

Harry could see the light of a Dark Curse threatening to spill out of his opponent's wand, he hunched and readied himself. Just as the wizard was about to say it aloud, Harry tumbled away as he tapped thrice on Phoenix and pulled. The flexible beam of light straightened itself and morphed into the striking shape of a sword. Harry soon held a beautiful golden sword in his right hand, the metal letting off an ethereal glow. He closed in on the wizard and gifted him a solid kick to the stomach.

The other mask-wearer was alert and ready, he fired off Curse after Curse, each one Darker than the next. His partner steadied himself and tried to snap out of his daze, the kick had been a hard one. The wizard placed a hand on his stomach, as if it would make the pain go away. The barrage of colourful lights flew toward Harry, who swung his sword with unusual familiarity. Harry himself was stunned by how the sword felt so right in his hand, as if it was meant to be there the whole time. Harry crossed his fingers and prayed as he prepared to test Phoenix's magic neutralising properties.

Like a batter hitting a pitch, Harry steadied himself and swung Phoenix at each Curse. The metal sliced through each colourful and he thanked the heavens when each Curse dissipated as it came into contact with Phoenix, Harry allowed a smug grin to cross his lips as he dashed toward the mask-wearer, dead set on retrieving his wand. The other wizard shocked by the sudden appearance of a sword that rendered Curses useless, fumbled with his wand and his words and a boy with said sword in hand charging at him did not help his processing of the current situation.

Harry aimed a clean strike at the other wizard's left leg, trying to incapacitate him. He had taken notice of how the wizard settled most of his weight onto that leg. Harry didn't understand the feeling in his gut somehow telling him where to attack next, but he trusted it nonetheless. The wizard braced himself for the impending pain, clenching his teeth as he was unable to stop the sword in time. Both of them were very surprised and dumbfounded when the sword cleanly passed through the man's leg, doing no damage, not even leaving a single cut.

This, however, was more than enough to startle the man enough that he dropped Harry's wand. Not letting this moment go to waste, Harry scooped up his wand and stunned the man with a _Stupefy._ As the wizard dropped like a sack of potatoes, Harry sensed something behind him. He whipped around with Phoenix in hand, slicing the huge stone that the other wizard was trying to drop on him cleanly in half. The other wizard was wary, he wanted to move nearer to get a better target for his Curse yet he was paranoid that the boy in front of him would pull out another surprise.

Harry dashed forward and shouted _Petrificus Totalus_ at the other wizard. When he instinctively moved out of the way, and fired back another spell. Harry defended himself with Phoenix, and swiftly closed the gap between them. In no time flat, he was an arm's length away from the wizard. Harry brought his elbow into the solar plexus of the wizard as he struggled to stand up on his feet. The wizard, caught off guard by the blow, fell over while clenching his stomach as he got the wind knocked out of him. Not letting this go to waste, Harry finished up with yet another _Stupefy._ He would leave all the bodies for the Aurors to find.

Harry dropped to his knees in relief as the other man fell down, Phoenix laid on his left side as his wand was clenched tightly in his right hand. He had somehow managed it. He had escaped with his life. Harry felt adrenaline still rushing through him as he shakily got up to his feet. He stared down in wonder at Phoenix, thanking it silently. He wouldn't and couldn't have done it without Phoenix. Harry willed it to morph back into its bangle form and Phoenix complied while giving him a happy tingle . It was back on his wrist while Harry tucked his wand away.

Harry pondered about Phoenix as he made his way back, Phoenix couldn't affect people, as it had passed through the other wizard's leg, but it was useful enough in battle, seeing as it could deflect and neutrise spells. He hoped that when the aurors came to find the mask-wearers in the forest, they would not believe the "crazed" ramblings about Harry running around with a powerful magical artefact. After all, where could he keep such a sword?

Thoroughly exhausted by all the action, Harry lugged his body back out the forest. He let out short bursts of breath as he tried to steady his breathing the whole way back. His heart filled with worry as he realised that all of his companions could still have been somewhere in the forest. Turning away from the forest, Harry could see the ghostly trails of smoke drifting upwards. Smoke and the smell of burning flesh invaded his nostrils Harry braced himself and forced himself to move toward it.

* * *

 _25th August 1994_

 _ **Outside the stadium**_

The scene that met his eyes made him wish that he was back in the forest. The bodies of witches and wizards lay all over, some were still fresh. Harry skillfully avoided any witch or wizard, paranoid that they could have been a mask-wearer, he was still tired out from the fight in the forest and his run back. He would have to have been overly confident or just plain stupid to try to confront hostile persons while his magic reserves were still low and his muscles were tired. Harry hid in the cover of torn flags and banners as he ducked downward and moved from tent to tent, hidden from view.

There were also many other civilians crawling around silently, Harry inevitably met some of them as he searched for his friends. They exchanged a look and mutually agreed not to say anything so as to not expose their locations. Harry could still hear the mad witches and wizards screaming out curse after curse at the structures, as if the current amount of destruction wasn't enough. Harry looked around for any sight of red hair, or Hermione's trademark fuzzy bush.

He rolled out of the sight of a man with a wand, and curled himself up into a ball. The man paused but soon left, running further away. Harry curiously followed him while hiding behind a tent. The wizard turned around and Harry ducked downwards. When the man focused his attention elsewhere, Harry let out a breath he didn't realise he had been holding. He craned his neck upward and pushed himself up, fire and blood were the only thing he could smell.

" _Morsmorde."_

Harry flinched as a blinding light shot out from the man's wand. He must have made some sort of noise in his surprise because the man started walking toward his location. Harry sprinted away, trying to make as little noise as possible. He had made it far enough, that he could no longer hear the man's slow footsteps inching toward him.

Yet just as he got ready to move forward again, a sharp stinging pain shot through his forehead. Harry pressed his palm against his scar, trying to alleviate the pain. A glowing symbol lit up the whole sky, it was a sickly green but it obviously struck fear into the hearts of many, as the wizards and witches around him stared at it with a horrified expression ,disbelief mixed in.

A large skull hung amongst the stars, it glowed bright in the night sky as a snake slithered out of its open mouth, it was hissing something but Harry couldn't understand. It was definitely not saying something in Parseltongue, that was for sure. He could hear the shocked gasps of the people around him, thankfully none wore golden masks. The middle-aged witch nearby sobbed as she muttered something like," No..it can't be." He glanced around only to see similar reactions from everyone else.

Harry broke the established silence as he continued his search, the stinging and the mysterious symbol could wait, he had to make sure his friends were safe. Harry saw a head of red hair in the distance and ran towards it. He reached his destination soon enough, but had lost sight of the redhead. He glanced around, confused.

Harry prepared to move on to another likely place the redhead could have gone but had not gotten far before a beam holding up one of the stalls fell down.

Its base had been seared by flames and utterly destroyed by the impacts of spells. It let out a sharp crack as the whole beam came crashing down. Harry had spun around just in time to see the the lines of the wood right in front of his eyes before it came into contact with his forehead and all he saw was darkness.

* * *

 _25th August 1994_

 _ **Outside the stadium**_

Harry cracked open an eye, searing pain on his forehead. He placed a comforting hand on his forehead, it simply pulsed with more pain. He only remembered a piece of wood knocking hitting him before blacking out. Harry could feel the dried blood on his forehead, parts of it flaked off onto his finger.

He let out a pained groan as he lifted his body up until he was sitting comfortably on the ground. He shakily pushed himself to his feet, where he staggered uncomfortably. He trudged forward like wearily, the sky was dark, with the symbol hanging invasively in the sky.

"Harry! Harry!'

He swung his head around to where he had heard the sound. Hermione and Ron rushed frantically toward him. Hermione caught sight of his bleeding forehead and pressed a piece of clean fabric she had gotten from who knows where onto it. The fabric soaked up the remainder of the blood that had not crusted over and Hermione ipad his forehead clean. Ron hoisted one of Harry's hands over his shoulder. Harry thanked them as the three progressed on like that.

"What went on after we split up in the forest? Nice distraction by the way 'Mione." He groaned out. Hermione gave a weak but proud smile as she walked with them. Her right hand had a piece of cloth tightly bound around it, it had a light red stain on it. Harry deduced that she must have not gotten out as unscathed as he did. He gave Ron a once-over, although he was grinning, he was walking with a slight limp. Harry took a closer look at his right leg, the fabric of his pants was slightly stained with blood. Harry felt guilty for letting Ron help him when he was,in fact, the injured one, Harry hastily withdrew his hand from Ron's shoulder. Ron gave him a surprised look, but Hermione pointed to his leg. He gave her a sheepish grin as he answered,

"Oh, after we split, I managed to take out three people while I gave the rest of them the slip. I got hit in the leg by a wayward spell though, it's nothing much. Hermione already healed it. Then, I got lost for a bit but I left the forest and saw Hermione helping this bloke out. I met up with her and we went looking for you when that thing," Ron pointed to the mark in the sky, "Lit up the whole sky and some people just started crying for some reason."

"You don't understand, that's the Dark Mark." Hermione supplied.

No, it couldn't be. Voldemort? That meant those were Death Eaters. All those mask-wearers that injured and killed people were all Death Eaters. Harry was horrified, even without Voldemort, his minions still stirred up this much ear and chaos? He winced as his scar just started to sting harder. Ron and Hermione gave him concerned glances but he shook his head and insisted that he was fine.

The three of them had trekked up to where their tent had roughly been, when a group of aurors appeared out of nowhere. They had their wand out, ready to inflict some major damage. They would also have done some major damage as well, if Mr Weasley hadn't stopped them.

"Stop! That's my son there!"

The aurors stopped just in the nick of time, some were confused while others recognised Mr Weasley. He pushed past the numerous aurors, they let out irritated grunts but he paid them no heed. He was soon checking all three of them, making sure they weren't gravely injured. After his thorough check, he let his shoulders sag in relief as he enveloped Ron in a tight hug. Ron appreciated it and hugged back.

The heartwarming scene was broken when one auror cleared his throat, "I'm sorry but I'm afraid that they have been found at the scene of the crime." Thee auror pointed up at the sky, where the Dark Mark was displayed ever so prominently.

"They're just kids! They're all just starting their 4th Year, what are you talking about?!"

The auror had enough decency to look guilty, he rounded up his forces and gave Mr Weasley an apology. The other aurors nodded and got into formation. They were just about to move off, searching for suspects,when Harry recalled the strange man and th crazed laugh he ha given out. He realised that he had seen the perpetrator. Harry grabbed the auror's arm tightly. The auror was taken aback but quickly smoothed his features into a serious look.

"It..it..was-There was a man, he was over there. He cast something at the sky and cackled." The aurors nodded at each other in agreement before speedily rushing off to wherever Harry had pointed them to.

Mr Weasley sighed and turned to them, a grim look on his face.

"When I took all of you out here I wanted you to have some excitement before the school year started. With what happened today, I guess you could say that things are going to be rather..exciting in the Wizarding World now." He gave a long, hard stare at the rubble that surrounded them before continuing.

"I'm sorry that all of you had to go through this, I thought Death Eater raids were already a thing of the past," A feeling of loss surrounded him, "I must have been wrong."

Ron placed a sympathetic hand over his father's shoulder. Mr Weasley brightened up a bit, glad that they hadn't been hurt.

"Come on now, let's go back home. Everyone's safe and sound and your mum's already making soup for all of us."

Mr Weasley handed out the portkey, they had already been set to activate the moment they left their little brown bag and came into contact with someone. Harry watched Ron and Hermione disappear one by one as Mr Weasley turned to him. Harry stretched his hand out. Mr Weasley let a smooth ball tumble out of the bag.

The nauseating feeling in his stomach had never felt more welcoming. Harry closed his eyes just as his surroundings started to get hazy and disappear.

* * *

 _ **Author's note:** Hiya everyone! Was that enough action for you? It was really fun to write. Phoenix can't harm people cause it's made of celestial bronze but it is useful to Harry in defending himself. Can't make it too op, you know? Phoenix is sentient to a certain extent, because I find it quite endearing. _

_I have to ask, is my writing style too tiring? Because i want to make chapters longer but to do that i have to either add more content or describe everything more. But i'm worried that it becomes too long-winded. I'm trying to release longer chapters, 4k to 5k words is my goal,so does anyone have any advice on how to improve my writing style?_

 _And lastly, I know that this was a rather late update, but I'm sorry to say that updates will be less frequent as I have tests coming up and I really need to study. No worries though, I think i can get back on track when March starts._

 _As always, please review and constructive criticism is always welcome! :D_


	9. Chapter 9

Chp 9

* * *

 _25th August 1994_

 **The Burrow**

Harry tried to make out his surroundings as the world slowly came into clarity around him. When the fuzziness finally came to a halt, Harry took in the sights around him.

Mrs Weasley was tending to her elder sons, Bill had a large variety of ointments and healing salves slathered all over his skin. Harry could smell all of them from where he was. He grimaced imagining Bill's lost sense of smell. Charlie had his hand wrapped up in an over the top manner. Percy was reluctantly letting his mother shove potions down his throat.

Her already anxious actions got even more frantic when she saw the state Harry, Ron and Hermione were in. She took out her wand and in an instant, the three of them were seated on chairs while she fussed over them.

"Merlin, what happened to all of you?! I knew that going to that darn World Cup was going to be bad." She motioned with her wand and a tray with a few bowls placed on it floated out. It went around to everyone, as if asking for the soup to be taken off it.

"Hurry and drink this, it should make you feel better." She then grabbed more bandages and went over to Harry. Mrs Weasley loomed dangerously over him, a sharp glint in her eye.

"Um.. No need for that now, Mrs Weasley. I'm fine, really." Harry protested and tried to get up to get back to his room but the looks he received from Bill, Charlie and Percy instantly told him that he had said the wrong words.

"No no no, you sit down young man!"

Harry gulped rather audibly.

* * *

Harry put a hand up to his forehead, it didn't hurt now that was for sure. In fact, he couldn't even feel it anymore. Mrs Weasley had wrapped a large bandage over and over around his head, it was excessive but it certainly did the trick.

He snickered as he remembered Ron's face when his mother had turned over to him after she was done with Harry. His smile had turned into a look of pure fear as he realised who was next.

Mrs Weasley had outdone herself with the dinner. It was absolutely scrumptious. After everyone had eaten their fill, they stayed to clean up before some eventually heading back to their own rooms.

Ron had tried to drag Harry into a game of chess, but Harry had successfully pushed Hermione into the line of sight of a determined Ron and got his eyes of him. Harry decided not to stick around while the two played their game together.

Harry slowly stepped up the stairs, lethargy obvious in his movements. For some reason, after using Phoenix, he had begun to feel more tired. The adrenaline rush to his head did enough to make him forget his fatigue but after everything that happened today, Harry just wanted a nap.

He made his way to his bed and got ready to hop right in when he realised the layers of hardened dirt were all over his legs and hands. Harry let out a groan, no matter how much he wanted that nap, his conscience just wouldn't let him get those pristine white sheets dirty.

Even with the use of magic, he knew that it was a major pain to clean. Mrs Weasley had more than enough to worry about already, Harry didn't want to add on to her workload.

He forced himself to go over to the shower. Harry unwrapped the bandage around his head, the bleeding had already stopped even before he had used the Portkey. All it had done was press Mrs Weasley's ointments into his scar. Harry felt a little guilty for wasting a good bandage.

He set it aside and laid out his clothes in the bathroom. Harry gave the bed one more glance but soon comforted himself with the fact that the feeling of hot water was absolutely amazing.

Harry left the shower with definitely more spirit in his step. As he stepped out, he noticed that Phoenix was placed on top of the drawer next to his bed.

It sat right on top of his holly wand, the bangle settling right on where his fingers would usually be wrapped around. He patted his wrist in confusion. Hm, he must have taken it off before he had entered the shower.

Harry's wrist felt strangely naked without Phoenix wrapped securely around it. The cold air hit his wrist and Harry realised that he missed the literal warmth Phoenix exuded.

He went over to the bed and sat down. With one hand, he picked up Phoenix and twirled it around between his fingers. With the other, he placed his wand right next to his pillow. He knew that now that he had Phoenix, he could ensure his own safety. But it still felt weird without his wand next to him. Hey, you can never be too safe right?

"I have to thank you for all of your help today, don't I? To think, that you can even cut through spells!" Harry let out a soft laugh when Phoenix thrummed happily.

He held it up to eye level as he once again admired the engraving on the bangle. Harry tried asking Phoenix a few different questions, but he received no more than various glows of different colours from Phoenix.

He failed to interpret Phoenix's attempts at communication but he would have continued to try had the pang of fatigue not hit him and washed over him in waves.

He let out a yawn mixed with a giggle, "I don't get it, when I used you back then it just felt so…. right. Like when I first got my wand. But now, I feel like I just got hit by a train."

Phoenix didn't give an immediate reply, almost as if it was hesitant. Harry's eyes widened as the engravings swirled to form legible words.

 _W-e-a-k_

He threw his head back in self-deprecating laughter," You're a cheeky little thing, aren't you?"

Phoenix glowed a bright red until Harry stopped. His laughs came to a gradual stop as a somber expression soon occupied his face.

"I get it, mate. I'm not enough." He slipped Phoenix around his hand as he laid back on the bed. Said bangle pulsed in a comforting manner, and Harry replied with a tiny smile.

He had a horrible feeling about what was to happen in this coming school year, but now he had Phoenix along with his friends to help him. Harry gave one last glance to the bangle before he slowly shut his eyes, he thought back to when he had first met it a few days ago.

Even without the old lady telling him that it was special, Harry knew that its origins were definitely extraordinary, he had felt something wake up inside him when he had used Phoenix in the forest, a certain resonation with him. He would definitely become worthy of wielding Phoenix.

Harry quickly fell asleep. However, should he have examined the words a little more, he would have realised that they were unfamiliar swirls and not the English that he was so used to.

* * *

 _26th August 1994_

 **The Burrow**

Harry woke up to a new day naturally this time, thank Merlin for that. There was no Fred shaking him awake nor was there George waiting around the corner. At least he was hoped there wasn't.

He rubbed his eyes and immediately went to check for a prank lying in wait for him. Once he made sure, Harry headed to the bathroom to freshen up and change out of his pajamas. 20 minutes later, he was tucking his wand into the back pocket of his pants and heading down.

The lower floor was lively as ever. Harry greeted everyone until he noticed that they had suspicious grins on their faces. Too busy preempting himself for a surprise prank by the twins, Harry didn't notice the hooded figure approaching him from behind.

"Boo!"

Gah! There was the prank! Harry would have let out a yelp had his hand not gone to his wand first, just as he was going to start firing he caught sight of his supposed assailant. Harry froze then broke into a smile and hugged him.

"Padfoot! What are you doing here?"

"Well, after I heard my favourite godson was at that whole mess of a World Cup Final, I just had to pop by." Sirius gave a wolfish grin and Harry chuckled back. He tightened the hug, Padfoot looked a little worse for wear. Yet, he still looked joyful seeing Harry. The boy felt something happily bubble in his heart.

"Not to mention, I got you a little gift after Arthur told me you were here." Mr Weasley nodded back while sipping his morning tea.

A familiar trunk was pushed before his eyes, Harry gasped while Sirius grinned wider. The sides were more worn down than before he had left Privet Drive but the lock was still securely hanging on the trunk. Although it did look like someone had tried to pry it open.

"Thank you thank you so much Padfoot!" Harry had been missing his cloak ever since he had left it back at Privet Drive, not having it in the forest was a major setback. He could already feel it inside the trunk, just waiting to be worn.

Then, Harry realised. No way would Vernon or Petunia willingly help another so-called freak, had Sirius done something to them? Harry's worry skyrocketed, would Sirius be going back to Azkaban because of him?

"Did you do anything to the Dursleys?"

Sirius had the gall to look slightly sheepish before he gloated, "Nothing much, just a bit of Transfiguration. It'll wear off in a few days."

Harry crooked an eyebrow and Sirius cut him off before he could start, "It's harmless. Prongs and I used to do it all the time. So much so, that I can do it wandlessly. Don't worry, nothing's gonna happen." He finished this with a shrug.

A part of Harry was smirking at this. Ha! Served them right! But the other, more rational part of him wanted to scold Sirius for his recklessness. He could have gone back to jail for Merlin's sake! In the end, Harry settled for levelling Sirius with a hard glare.

The man shook it off like nothing, he spun around and asked Mrs Weasley for some food. She happily complied and Harry, defeated, sat down at the table to get started on his own breakfast.

* * *

After Sirius devoured the meal, and also praised Mrs Weasley for her cooking, he pulled Harry to one side and squeezed. Everyone instantly averted their eyes, they didn't want to intrude on this rare family moment of Harry's. Harry recovered quickly from his surprise and raised his head, Sirius looked him in the eye.

"I have to go now, the public still isn't comfortable with an ex-convict wandering around the Boy-Who-Lived. The Death Eaters incident is still being investigated. Hopefully, our worst fears won't be confirmed."

He patted Harry's head and flashed his signature wolfish grin.

"But don't worry, if you ever need help, your godfather will always be there for you. Stay safe, Harry."

With that, the animagus turned and headed out the door. Harry watched as his feet carried him past the anti-apparition wards. Sirius gave Harry a big wave before he spun around and apparated away, the boy gave a small wave back to the empty field.

* * *

Harry went back his seat at the long wooden dining table, he quickly scarfed down the remains of his breakfast and excused himself to his room.

Harry took out his wand and levitated the heavy trunk all the way to his room.

He cancelled the spell right in front of his bed and the trunk fell to the floor with a hard thud. Now that it was side by side his new trunk, Harry could really see how worn-down and tattered his old one was.

He swiftly unlocked it and pushed the top open. As he gazed upon his belonging, he was filled with relief. They were mostly untouched, although some of the parchment inside had small tears due to how badly they were shaken around.

The first thing he grabbed was his invisibility cloak. The silky fabric enveloped him and gave him that familiar feeling of safety. It brushed up against Phoenix and he felt the bangle give him a little vibration. He rubbed it and it gradually stopped.

Undeterred by this, Harry set the cloak aside and

picked up the photo album of his parents, and flopped onto his bed. The moving pictures floated to life and a picture of his mom winked at him. He flipped to one of his favourite photos, going past countless pictures of his parents.

This picture was one of the few with him inside, and was one he held dear to his heart. He couldn't quite place a finger on the emotion this one picture stirred up within him. Lily held him tightly to her chest while James smiled in the background. Harry couldn't help it and goofily smiled, his gaze filled with longing.

His mom was as happy as ever, she kept on laughing and smiling at James while rocking her child. Harry moved his eyes over to his dad, there was something more…different about him.

His gaze, before, was filled with way more joy and pride. Harry examined the picture harder, he could see that James was no doubt happy, but there was more of a satisfaction in his gaze now that he looked at it.

Harry felt a sharp sting in his head, he set the book aside and massaged his temples. It wasn't the familiar pain in the forehead scar, that one was more like someone stabbing him right on the scar. Right now, it was a pounding through his whole head.

His vision blurred a little and Harry rubbed his eyes, he pressed his head against the pillow, enduring the pain.

Once it subsided a little, thank Merlin for that, Harry reopened his eyes and turned back to the book, he found himself looking face to face at the picture again.

That's weird, were James' eyes always such a dark shade? Harry squinted, flecks of gold swirled around in the eyes of Picture-James. They stared at him eerily, almost as if they were reading his soul.

Frantically, Harry flipped the page to another, when he flipped back, those deep almost-glowing gold eyes had been replaced by a smoother, more familiar brown.

That's wasn't normal, had Sirius cast a charm on the book? Harry fiddled with it repeatedly, hoping to find a specific action that would trigger whatever had just happened again.

Darn Sirius, you're good, Harry lamented.

* * *

Harry gave up and went back to sorting out his belongings. He moved his stationary and school robes aside, arranging them into neat little piles. Once his old trunk was empty after his meticulous sorting, Harry leaned back on his bed in victory.

He had pushed his trunk to the side, it weighed absolutely nothing. Harry made a mental note to recommend that shopkeep to any of his fellow schoolmates who needed a new trunk.

The thought of schoolmates made him realise, there were only a few more days before the school year began again! Harry couldn't wait to step back into the wondrous halls of Hogwarts. Well, Snape would be a major downside, but Harry would not let that damper his mood.

He longed to be in the Gryffindor dorms again, he wanted to see Neville and Dean and Seamus and everyone else again.

Not to mention, his Firebolt stared at him from the corner of the room. Yes, Harry definitely wanted to fly as well. But his body was still recovering from the effects of the Dursleys "wonderful" caretaking. He had tried using one of the Weasleys' old brooms but Mrs Weasley had fixed him with a death glare and made him swear to not go flying.

Suddenly, Harry realised that Hedwig wasn't around. She had picked up his letter to Sally a while ago, and being the efficient bird she was, would usually be back after a few days.

Harry reminded himself, she was flying across the pond after all, the poor girl was probably flapping her wings with all she had, even through heavy rains. Harry promised to give her a nice big fat mouse when she returned.

As he turned his gaze away from the empty bird cage, he looked around the room. It was already looking much cleaner, with everything packed properly. He sighed. A smile grew on his face, just 6 more days.

* * *

 _1st September 1994_

 **Platform 9 and 3/4**

The last few days had gone by rather fast. With daily pranks being pulled on him by the twins, Ron destroying him at chess, Harry swore he just loved to gloat, Hermione approving of his attempts to read and also giving him that disappointed look when he dropped the book to do "better, more fun activities" as Ron had elegantly said.

He would miss the warm Weasley house but excitedly looked toward the future. Hogwarts would still always be a second home to him, no matter what. Heck, it was more of a home than 4 Privet Drive ever was.

Everyone already had their various trolleys, happily pushing and chatting while making their way to the familiar brick wall.

Mrs Weasley directed a few lost souls towards the platform, and got the twins to demonstrate the way through.

"You just run into the wall." Fred had said with a cheeky wink.

The soon-to-be student looked at him with slight fear.

"It's all about timing and precision. If you do it wrongly….well, you might only lose a few teeth if you're lucky." George added with a fake sheepish grin.

The boy and his parents looked so horrified that Harry was lost for words.

Mrs Weasley told the two of them off and eventually just asked Hermione to demonstrate.

The wall seemed to fold in around her and she was gone. The new first-year had his mouth gaping wide and Harry felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him.

All of them were through the wall after a few minutes, and walked towards the black train.

They tried to hold in their laughs as they caught sight of various purebloods dressing in what they apparently thought to be muggle fashion. Seriously, a tutu and… and was that a bathrobe?! The muggles walking through the station averted their eyes Everyone had their own ideas of fashion,no need to judge.

There were many new faces in the crowd, either haughty purebloods or naive muggleborns and halfbloods. But they all had one thing in common, there was a glimmer of excitement in every one of their eyes. The prospect of going to Hogwarts tended to have that effect on anyone. Harry looked around but failed to find any of his housemates.

He eventually gave up and waited for his friends to finish waving their parents goodbye. The Weasleys were given crushing hugs by their parents and a stern warning not to cause trouble, mostly directed at the twins, courtesy of Mrs Weasley. Whether her threat was made clear or not was unsure as the twins both gave a salute.

The Grangers were there as well, warmly wishing their daughter to have a great time. Hermione received a pat on the head and a small bag of candy. 'A one time thing', the dentists had called it.

Harry was left alone while all this happened. It had been the same the previous years as well. But this year Hedwig wasn't with him, hooting as usual. He was a little comforted when Phoenix pulsed warmly though.

* * *

The teenagers walked away from the adults and towards the magnificent train. The train let out a long whistle as more and more students entered it. The twins split off to go find their friends, or more people to prank, and the rest of them went to find a compartment for themselves.

Silently praying that he wouldn't have to run into Malfoy so early, Harry pushed open the door. Thankfully, the ones sitting inside weren't the blond and his Slytherins but rather Neville and Luna.

Neville's eyes brightened up immediately, "Guys! Nice to see you again!" Luna gave a small wave from her seat. She motioned them to come in and sit down. They acknowledged and moved in and settled down, trunks hit the ground with a satisfying 'thump'.

Hermione found herself a cozy corner and pulled out a book from somewhere and Ron got out his chessboard. He and Harry were already setting up the pieces. The two other girls were happily chatting in one corner. A conversation about what happened during the summer was started by one curious Neville, and everyone continued with their own things while throwing in snippets and long chunks of speech.

A good one or two hours later, Neville went looking for Trevor , dropping into multiple other compartments to no avail, but he didn't notice the devious smirk Luna was wearing as said toad napped away on her lap. Harry challenged Ron multiple times, wanting to wipe the smugness of his face. The redhead quirked an eyebrow with an expression that had three words written all over it: Bring it on.

Overall, it was a very comfortable and smooth train ride as compared to last year's fiasco.

"Harry, we have to change into our robes. The train's stopping soon." Hermione reminded. Harry had dozed off after a few rounds of chess, complaining about needing to recharge before defeating Ron. The redhead boy had rolled his eyes in response and brought his chessboard over to Neville, eager for a new opponent to crush.

Harry got up with a jolt and went over to his trunk, sleep still evident in his eyes. He didn't even have to look back to see if Hermione was already dressed. As he tugged the robes out of his trunk, he spotted Luna helping Neville adjust his tie. And was he blushing? Harry softly smiled as he put on his robes. The tie was a bit of a pain but after years of folding laundry for the Dursleys, he could probbaly tie a perfect tie in his sleep.

Ginny gave her brother one last run down while he stood there waiting for her to finish, annoyed. Hermione leaned against the side of the compartment, heavily engrossed in her book while waiting for her friends. Once Ron was cleared of any form of messy attire, all of them picked up their things and headed for the exit door.

The door slid open with a whoosh and Harry breathed in the fresh air. The magic in the air was slightly thicker, it washed over him and he couldn't resist smiling. Looking at the crowd of students all swarming to head for the familiar castle in the distance, Harry felt excitement and anticipation rumble in his chest.

However, Phoenix tightened around Harry's wrist, as if anticipating something very different.

* * *

 _Hiya guys! Woohoo! I'm back. It's been a really loooong time since the last update but I'm finally back. Exams are a huge pain but thankfully they're over. I'll try to update regularly but there's. A reason my username is what it is. I feel like the fic will be going slightly faster from here, as my aim is to have it end at around 30 chapters or under. There's a lot of plot going on in this chapter, and that's barely the surface. Hope you guys enjoyed it and thank you to all the loyal readers who waited patiently. And finally, please leave a review and constructive criticism is always welcome :D_


	10. Chapter 10

Chp 10

* * *

 _1st September 1994_

 **Hogwarts**

"C'mon guys, we're lagging behind." Ron complained. Holding his belongings, he had bounced off the train and was already heading for the carriages.

"Says the one who took so long to fix his tie," Ginny muttered under her breath. The rest of the group chuckled as the heard it. The group followed the excited redhead to the carriages, watching as the first years broke off from the large horde of students, following behind Hagrid.

They broke into two groups: Harry, Ron and Neville in one and Luna, Ginny and Hermione in the other. After hoisting their things on to their respective carriages, they hopped on board and got ready.

The carriages rocked slightly before lifting off, high into the air. Harry swore he heard a neigh, multiple neighs in fact. But when he had brought it up to Neville and Ron, they looked at him like he was crazy.

Harry had looked around outside the window, trying to find the source but eventually gave up. There was literally nothing in the open air beside them except for other carriages.

* * *

 **Great Hall**

The Great Hall looked as magnificent as ever, Harry couldn't suppress the wonder and astonishment everytime he set foot in it. The ceiling was still the same stunning sky, and the floating candles seemed to light up a path to the familiar Gryffindor table, guiding the group along.

Harry and his friends, with the exception of Ginny, sat together in the middle of the long table. Ginny had chosen to sit with her own yearmates and was animatedly chatting with them. Harry received a few waves from his housemates as they moved to sit next to the group. They recounted their summers as everyone waited for the new first years to start filing in.

A hush fell over the entire hall when Professor McGonagall escorted the line of first years in, Harry smiled as he took in their expressions. The muggleborns were definitely extremely mystified by the ceiling and the purebloods still tried to hide the wonder at being here behind their proper, cold masks.

He remembered how he had bore the same expressions many years ago. Hogwarts just had that atmosphere that pulled you in, no matter who you were, pureblood or not. They settled down in a side of the Great Hall, and Professor Dumbledore stood up to greet them. Seated at the teachers' table were fresh and familiar faces, Snape as usual was scowling at the masses.

But beside him sat a man that Harry was largely unfamiliar with, shaggy hair and the creepiest fake eye he had ever seen. Sure, he hadn't seen many fake eyes before but the way this one rested outside the man's eye socket was absolutely creepy. His gaze was a mix between a glare and an appraisal of the student body.

Just then, the man seemed to look straight at him, and their eyes made contact. The man sent him a terrifying grin and Harry snapped his head in the other direction so fast he worried for the state of his neck bones. Dumbledore continued, not noticing any of this.

"Welcome, students old and new, to Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where a brand new year of learning awaits all of you." The students' applause thundered through the hall. Dumbledore waited for it to die down before continuing.

"The four Hogwarts houses of Brave Gryffindor, Cunning Slytherin, Wise Ravenclaw and Loyal Hufflepuff welcome all new additions. With that said, let the Sorting begin." The Sorting Hat was placed on a stool and it then burst out into song.

The entire Hall watched as first year after first year walked up to the stool, cheering as another was welcomed into their own house. After all of them were sorted, Dumbledore stood up yet again.

"This year, there will be a few new changes. Firstly, let us welcome our new DADA Professor, that's short for Defence Against The Dark Arts," he explained for the many clueless first years, "Famous Auror and my own good friend of many years, Alastor Moody."

The man with the fake eye rose from his seat and bowed, he jerked his head up and gave the entire student body one hard glare before sitting back down. Dumbledore cleared his throat and dispelled the lingering awkwardness.

"Thank you, Alastor. Ahem. Secondly, our school has been given the honor of hosting the very first Tri Wizard Tournament in a very, very long time. Champions of three magical schools, Durmstrang from Bulgaria, Beauxbaxtons from France, and of course, our very own Hogwarts will go through trials and face dreadful challenges all for the grand prize of 1000 Galleons and eternal glory."

At this point, the students were all extremely excited, buzzing with each other enthusiastically. Dumbledore smiled as he took in the sight.

" I assure you it is going to be quite the exciting year. Now, I present to you the wonderful feast made by our very own elves of Hogwarts. Do enjoy." He waved his hand and the smell of freshly cooked food instantly filled the air of the Great Hall as dish after dish, course after course of food appeared out of nowhere.

The students tucked in and savored the taste. Truly, there was nothing better than this. Harry ate to his heart's fill, the food was simply amazing.

* * *

 **Gryffindor Tower**

After the feast, the students headed towards their dorms. The first years followed after their respective House Prefects while the rest of them followed the crowd. Their own Prefect whispered the password around and the password was soon spread around.

After having the password crudely whispered into his ear, Harry entered the already open door and was met with the familiar Gryffindor Common Room. The fireplace, the banners and the couches were all as he had remembered, the portraits welcomed him in and Harry obliged.

He passed through the Common Room and headed for the Dormitory. His roommates followed behind him while they excitedly bantered. Hermione had split off along the way, going to her own room.

Swinging open their room door, they rushed in. Harry dumped his things on the ground and flopped onto the bed with a thud. He rolled around in the soft fabric and watched Neville unpack his things and Ron, Dean and Seamus engage in a rather violent pillow fight.

He too followed Neville's example and started unpacking and organising his things, after joining in on the pillow warfare, of course.

Ron, Dean and Seamus eagerly welcomed him with blows to the face. Harry retaliated with strikes of his own. The boys laughed as it all went down.

Neville sighed as he watched his roommates destroy their room.

The setting sun caused them to declare a truce and call off the pillow war. Thoroughly tired out, they calmed down and went to change into their night clothes.

"Tired now?" Neville told Harry as he handed him a glass of water.

"You wish." Harry flashed him a cheeky grin while accepting the glass. Neville shook his head and went to help out the others, who were most definitely exhausted.

Neville cast a _Tempus_ charm and let out something resembling a squawk when he saw that it was already a quarter to midnight. He scrambled to pack his things for tomorrow, Dean and Seamus looked on, amused.

"You guys should stop laughing and get your things ready too!"

"Nah… we're getting up extra early tomorrow. Should be enough time." The two of them lazed on their beds with matching grins, Neville retorted with a resigned huff and got back to packing.

Harry went over to help him out while Ron declared lights out in 5 minutes after letting out yawns in quick succession. He shuffled around in his night clothes while he got the bed ready.

Neville thanked Harry for his help before getting comfortable under his blankets. The black-haired boy nodded and hopped into his own bed.

"Good night guys."

"G'night, " They replied in unison. Just then, his bangle hummed twice against his skin.

Harry softly laughed and whispered to it, "Good night to you too."

He smiled and was unable to keep the excitement for tomorrow in his heart from bubbling over, causing him to fall asleep with a goofy grin on his face.

The warm heat from the heater in the middle of the room radiated throughout the night, protecting them all from the cold chilly outside air.

* * *

 _2nd September 1994_

The morning started off with both Dean and Seamus floundering around for their books. The schedules hadn't come in yet but they were still trying to shove every different type of textbook into their book bags.

Harry and Ron awoke to Neville smirking sleepily at the two. The boy appeared to be half awake, with his body resting against the headboard.

"Nothing is to come out of you!" Dean pointed at Neville, who only nodded and went to go change.

Harry and Ron followed suit and soon enough they were more or less freshened up. Dean and Seamus managed to get everything together in time, and all of them quickly made their way down to the Hall.

They met up with Hermione on the way there. The fuzzy haired girl greeted them while burying her head nose-deep into a book. She allowed Ron to guide her as she followed the group to the Hall.

They sat down and got started on breakfast. The standard flurry of owls flew in and dropped off the morning mail, letters and whatnot. Harry slurped up his soup, which was absolutely delectable by the way, and watched as the Daily Prophet came raining down.

His own copy came crashing down and he caught sight of the breaking news on the first page.

 _'Dark Mark At Quidditch World Cup. Minister Fudge Says, "No worry."'_

A multitude of students gasped in shock and horror, a large amount of murmuring started amongst the student body. Harry remembered all too clearly the sickly green insignia that lighted up the sky. His scar seemed to burn just at the thought of it.

Just then, a familiar white feather drifted in front of him. Any dread or fear he felt was instantly dispelled as Harry put the newspaper down and looked up in excitement.

Hedwig gazed back at him as she flapped her wings to stay in the air. She definitely looked tired out but somehow still maintained her regal disposure.

"Hedwig!" Harry grabbed the meatiest sausage he had off his plate and tossed it into the air. The owl swooped down and snapped it up, dropping an envelope.

Harry gave her a quick embrace and reached over to pet Hedwig. He ran his fingers through her feathers. She hooted in bliss and nuzzled her head against his hand.

"You must be tired from all that flying, why don't you go rest some and I'll bring you a fat mouse later?"

Hedwig nodded and flew off, headed for the Owlery. Harry picked up the envelope and place it into his book bag, he would look at it later. He guessed that his friends assumed it was from Sirius, and had chosen to give him privacy.

Harry decided to read it later, but he had caught sight of the neat words handwritten on the front:

 _To: Harry_

 _From: Sally and Perseus_

He couldn't wait to read it.

* * *

The day went by relatively fast, with teachers giving rough introductions to the new syllabus. The envelope was burning a hole in his pocket throughout the entire day, just begging to be read.

The first period had been History of Magic, and Harry had been right about History of Magic. Professor Binns' class was just as excruciating as always. Even though he had gotten a good amount of sleep last night, he still was unable to keep himself from dozing off.

The monotonic speech Professor Binns was making finally ended with him promising more in depth descriptions of Goblin eating habits. Harry was glad it was over but also dreaded the next lesson at the same time.

Break went by quite fast and the next period went by in a flash. Before he realised it, he was already seated at the table for lunch. Hermione was making notes on her book while Ron and Harry mentally prepped themselves for the upcoming Potions with the Slytherins.

He had enjoyed his short-lived Malfoy-free time,

the blond boy was strangely… detached to his Hogwarts life so far. Usually, or according to past experiences, he would have already been in his face with an insult or snarky comment.

Well, Harry was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Potions had came and gone by, Snape gave him and Ron a look that promised detention, but he and Ron had managed to make a barely, just barely, acceptable potion.

Malfoy just had to rub it in as well, but that was the norm for the blond pureblood.

Dinner at Hogwarts was an amazing thing as usual, Harry ate to his heart's content. Ron was sharing on how excited he was for Quidditch, and Harry agreed with him. He had wanted to continue the conversation, but just as he saw a rat run past the large doors, and a desperate house elf chasing after it, he realised Hedwig was probably still waiting on that mouse.

"Well guys, I've got to head off first. I promised Hedwig a mouse and she gets really grumpy when she's hungry." The table laughed as Harry got out of his seat. He waved to them and left the Hall.

Harry made his way to Gryffindor Tower, his hand in his book bag fiddling with the corner of Sally's letter. He entered his room and went to his bed. Leaning back, he pulled out the envelope.

The paper wasn't the musty yellow parchment he was used to obviously. It was fresh, white, slightly crinkled printer paper that held the letter. Harry had to commend Sally's skill with a quill, it was like she was the one who had been writing with one for 4 years.

Harry opened the envelope and pulled the letter out. He unfolded it nervously. Would Sally think he was a freak? Did she want to stay in touch? Harry started reading:

 _Dear Harry,_

 _Thank you for your letter. I was surprised to find a white owl right outside my window, but she seemed quite friendly. Trust me, I've seen weirder. I think she likes children, Percy surely enjoyed playing with her._

 _Thank you very much for the bracelet and the ring, they are very beautiful. Although, you really didn't have to send us gifts but we will definitely treasure them anyway._

 _I'm quite shocked that you'd assume I wouldn't want to contact you. Rest assured, your letters are very much welcome. It's like having a pen pal, I used to have one when I was younger. Feel free to talk about anything. I'll even start, how is school? You're in 9th grade right? You can choose not to answer if it gets too personal, but I do hope you'll tell me something about you. All I know about you is that you really like my tea._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Sally_

Harry finished the letter and let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't freaked out and didn't demand he never contact her again. That was a good start in Harry's book. Harry slumped down against the headboard, smiling widely. He quickly pushed himself off the bed and grabbed his ink and quill.

He couldn't really tell Sally about Hogwarts, the Statute of Secrecy _did_ exist after all. Harry thought for awhile before enthusiastically writing on the parchment. He managed to end up with lesser ink splotches this time.

Harry happily sealed the letter with a wax seal. The red liquid hardened into a sloppy round flower, his initials in the center of it all.

Before he left the room though, he went to his trunk and pulled out a box of owl treats and mice. He carried it with him and exited the room, heading for the Owlery with a spring in his step.

The students were still mostly in the Great Hall, so the corridors were still quite empty, save for a few others.

Harry walked into the Owlery, the scent of owl droppings and sawdust hit his nose instantly. Those two scents should never have been mixed, he thought as he tried to keep his dinner in his stomach.

Ignoring it, or trying to, he searched for Hedwig. Not that it was hard for she stood out amongst the sea of brown and black owls. She swooped downwards and landed on a perch next to him.

"I told you that you'd be getting a mouse." He opened the box and tossed the fattest one he could find up. As she chewed, he poured a few owl treats into a small dish.

He could see some other owls looking at it eagerly, but Hedwig turned back to glare at them before continuing with her meal.

"Sorry girl, but I have to send you out again. I've got another letter for Sally. She says that Perseus likes you, did you play with him?"

Hedwig cooed, and Harry chuckled. It seemed that she had enjoyed it too. He took the letter and waited for Hedwig to finish eating. He placed it within her beak and watched as she prepared to take off.

Harry gazed as her white figure disappeared into the horizon, he sighed and left the Owlery. Sniffing his robes slightly, he wrinkled his nose. He definitely needed a bath, urgently.

Harry paused and ran his hands all over his robes, searching for any sign of owl droppings. Just in case.

* * *

 _4th September 1994_

 **DADA Clasroom**

Today,was a day that Harry was hyped about. The first DADA lesson of the curriculum. He practically bounded into the classroom after lunch, buzzing with excitement.

Although the new professor was… interesting, Professor Dumbledore had vouched for him being a close friend of his. On top of that, he was a famed Auror. Many of his classmates had expressed eagerness for him to be teaching, Harry reckoned that he was quite well-known.

Having Remus as last year's teacher really raised the bar, he had proved to be more efficient than any other teacher before him. He had taught them many protective spells and offensive curses, educated them on magical creatures and how to deal with them.

Needless to say, Harry had high expectations. He hoped that this teacher would be of the same standard.

Once everyone was seated, Professor Moody walked into the class. He gruffly introduced himself to the students, his glass eye spinning wildly. Harry got the impression that he _really_ didn't want to be here.

"Alastor Moody. Ex-Auror. And your new Defence Against The Dark Arts Teacher. I'm here because Dumbledore asked me to."

He gave the whole class a hard look to make sure he had everyone's attention before continuing.

"Now when it comes to the dark arts, I believe in a more practical approach. But first can anyone tell me how many Unforgivable Curses there are? "

The entire class quietened down in an instant, this was a taboo subject. Not a single person raised their hand to answer, probably preparing for what they thought Moody was about to do.

Hermione, being the godsend that she was, broke the tension with a soft answer.

"Three, sir."

"Good. And why are they called the Unforgivables?"

Hermione opened her mouth to answer but apparently it was a rhetorical question as Professor Moody turned to the blackboard behind him and grabbed the chalk.

"Because the use of any one of them is a one-ticket to Az-ka-ban." He enunciated every syllable of the name as the chalk harshly scratched words on the blackboard.

"The Ministry says you are too young to see what these curses do. I say different. You need to know what you're up against! You need to be prepared!" His voice thundered loudly through the quiet room before shifting into a low, dangerous tone.

"Now, which curse shall we see first?"

"Well?!" He shouted in response to the fearful silence.

Everyone in that room, aside from Moody, gulped rather audibly. Their teacher was glaring at the entire class, their prior excitement had already been converted into anxiety and fear.

* * *

The class left the classroom enlightened and traumatised.

Harry just needed to shut his eyes and he could see the enlarged spider tap dancing and spinning to an invisible tune, with Professor Moody pulling its strings.

The class had had a laugh when the spider hopped and twirled about the room, but reverted to the original silent, terrified state when Professor Moody went on to state and demonstrate the darker aspects of the curse. No other teacher would have been able to shut a class up so quickly.

The spider had willingly thrown itself into a bucket of water and propelled itself into a solid glass window. It would have been instant death had Professor Moody not stopped it. Imagining what the Imperius Curse could do to a fellow human, Harry shivered.

As if the poor spider had not suffered enough, the Professor then cast the Cruciatus on it. He stood there, explaining the effects painfully slowly while the spider let out screeches and cries. The way it curled up on itself, each of its long limbs paralysed in the air with pain was imprinted in his head.

The professor only cancelled the spell when Neville started hyperventilating due to the sight of the same curse that had taken his parents from him. They had all called out for the professor to cancel the spell. Harry took notice of the glimmer of unwillingness in his eye.

Finally, he picked up the still twitching spider and explained the very last curse. He placed it on Harry's table, looking him dead in the eye.

"There is only one person who has survived this curse, and he's sitting in this room right now." He had said, lifting his wand with the incantation on his tongue.

This was when things started getting weird for Harry. The moment Professor Moody let loose the Killing Curse, Harry felt a pulling in his chest, a strong one.

He tried to recall the feeling as he walked to the Great Hall. It felt oh so familiar, like a part of him. He felt strangely comfortable as it was released. Harry felt acquainted with the feeling, like he was meeting an old friend. The spider had let out its last breath then, dropping down lifelessly onto the desk.

Just then, the bell had rung and the tense atmosphere in the classroom melted away. Professor Moody walked back to his desk while dismissing the class. Harry had stared at the corpse on his desk while he packed his things.

"Don't mind that, I'll clean it up later. Off you go now." Professor Moody told him as he wrote down the information for the next class on the backboard.

After Harry reached over to pack his quill and ink bottle, he couldn't help looking at the corpse again. Its life had been extinguished, just like that. A surge of pity rushed through his heart, and before he knew it, Harry was placing a hand on the cold body.

"Rest in peace." He muttered.

Looking up, Harry saw his friends waiting for him at the door. He grabbed his book bag and walked out. When he rejoined the group and they bid Professor Moody farewell, a silvery smoke coming from the corpse caught Harry's eye. It dissipated in no time, leaving no trace at all. However, Harry could have sworn that it had formed the shape of the spider, and that it had given him a small bow before fading away.

Harry had nodded his head in response, thoroughly puzzled. Professor Moody stared at him, cocking an eyebrow as he organised his lesson materials.

Harry instinctively moved his hand to trace over Phoenix, calming him down, letting him process what had just happened.

Did Professor Moody do that? Harry had seen potion fumes do some weird things before, trust him on that one, and Professor Moody had been sipping a flask of something throughout the lesson. Harry remembered the puffs of smoke that rose from it whenever the professor opened it.

Hmm...something was definitely up. Harry resolved to be more wary of his newest teacher.

* * *

 _Hiya everyone! Now that the location has been shifted to Hogwarts, more and more of Harry's demigod side will be revealed. I've hinted so much at it, and we get to see some of it in this chapter. The smart cookies have probably already figured it out and I'll continue dropping hints, although it should be quite obvious._

 _ **Take note though**_ _, that I've decided for Harry to have a gradual discovery of his demigod nature.(his powers, his heritage, physical traits). It's not gonna be in an instant so yeah that side of the story might be slow. Remember, although Harry takes note of all these weird thing occurring, he doesn't know he's a demigod and being a demigod is not really something he'd suspect straight away._

 _And also, after mulling it over for a bit, I have decided to keep whatever that i have written in the previous chapters. Although I did redo some of the chapters, I realised that it would clash with what i have planned for the story. So I'm sorry if the plot holes might be annoying , but im sticking to my story. I'm a very wishy washy kind of person and i apologise for that._

 _As always, please review and constructive criticism is always welcome. :D_


	11. Chapter 11

Chp 11

 _26th October 1994_

* * *

Harry was sure that Phoenix deserved a better owner, no matter how much it buzzed to reassure him the opposite. The immense guilt that drowned him was unbearable.

The (probably) priceless artefact in his possession, and the reason he was still alive, had been drenched by pumpkin juice. As if it couldn't get bad enough, some of the soup had found its way into the little engravings as well.

Harry had casted a Cleaning Charm on the bangle and was promptly reminded him of Phoenix's special properties when the light produced by the charm fizzled away on contact.

Harry swore under his breath. He had to clean it the old-fashioned way: a cloth and some elbow grease. Harry excused himself from the hall and returned to his dorm. He knew that if he had started cleaning it in front of his friends, Hermione would have offered to use a charm on it and he did not want to explain to her why the stain refused to leave the bangle.

Harry didn't know why, but a part if him instinctively avoided talking about Phoenix or Sally with his friends. It was a gut feeling that was a part of him, unexplained and unusual as it was, but he trusted it. He'd tell them when the time was right.

Thus, he was now sitting on his bed with a transfigured cloth in hand and a small cup of water beside him.

Nodding his head to an invisible beat, he ran his thumb over the bangle appreciating the clean surface. The metal gleamed at him, calling him, and he couldn't resist it anymore. He tapped it thrice and the familiar sword appeared.

The boy swung it around to regain the almost addictive rush of adrenaline that came every time. The sounds it made while slicing through the air were simply pleasing to the ear.

Getting carried away, Harry reminisced the encounter in the forest. He flushed as he recalled the way the he had swung the sword, hasty and unpolished. He had practically been hacking mindlessly at his attacker.

Harry exhaled while imagining the old woman's form, it was smooth and even had a touch of elegance to it. Trying to replicate the movements of the old woman, he concentrated and moved accordingly.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he lunged forward and sliced an imaginary enemy. His reflection gazed back at him, sword moving gracefully.

Satisfied, Harry continued with his one man sword dance. In his head, he was facing a legion of monsters. Some he had seen in Hermione's books, and some he had seen from television and Dudley's board games.

He only snapped out of his daze when Phoenix collided with the bedpost. The force of the sword hitting the wood jolting him awake.

Harry saw the large gash on the wood, and full-out panicked. The bed was old and was probably older than him. Sweet Merlin, had he damaged something that was probably older than him?

He could hear Hermione telling him off as he hid the mark with an inconspicuous piece of cloth. He definitely needed a place to train without the risk of damaging anything culturally significant, Harry thought once he had covered up the mark.

Thus, the boy set about looking for a proper place during his free period. He searched almost the Hogwarts grounds, from the dusty upper floors to the dark musty dungeons. All of which were unavailable, there were either groups of students who were doing who-knows-what there, or couples snogging in what they thought would be a private area.

* * *

Harry had already walked in on three couples before he decided to swear off the dungeons altogether. His stomach grumbled as he let out a sigh, he should have finished his soup before leaving the Hall. Harry headed for the kitchens to see if he could manage to get a snack.

Harry soon found himself at the Hall again, but this time, it was deserted. It seemed the students had already finished their meals and headed back to their dorms. Harry wandered through the halls, eyes peeled for any sign of a house elf. He sat there, waiting and waiting.

Soon enough, a tiny being popped into existence.

"Get back here! You is bad for the students!"

The elf shouted as it tried to catch the rat scuttling away from it. In all honesty, it just seemed to make the rat run faster. Harry let out a low chuckle as he sidestepped into the path of the creature. Caught off guard, the rat squeaked as it slowed down to turn away. The drop in speed was enough for the little elf to grab it.

The elf looked up at Harry with a grateful smile before shifting into a look of surprise, "Ah! You is Master Harry Potter! I is hearing a lot about you from Dobby! What can I do for you?" The elf's eyes sparkled with admiration.

Harry gave a sheepish smile but continued with his snack request anyway.

"We still has some bread in the kitchens. Is that okay?"

Harry nodded.

"Ok! Follow me!" The elf led the way to a little room with a painting and a table with a little fruit bowl of top. It hopped onto stool under the table and used its long fingers to give the pear a light scratch. The dark wall started glowing until it melted into a doorway. The smell of food instantly invaded his nostrils, Harry was amazed by the sight of numerous house elves running all over the kitchens.

Once they caught sight of the two of them, they were obviously excited. The elves inched towards the pair and Harry gulped. Before he could try to hide behind the elf he had helped out for help form the horde of other elves, he realised that the tiny elf had disappeared.

Harry was subjected to a swarm of questions form the curious elves, he struggled to answer all of them as he was pushed onto a chair for their "interrogation".

All of a sudden, the elf popped back in with a tray of bread and a small bowl of soup. He pushed his way through the crowd and managed to make them form a little circle around Harry, giving the Boy-Who-Lived some space.

Harry took the tray from him with thanks. He dipped the bread in the soup and continued finishing his dinner. The elves seemed quite pleased by the satisfied expression he had as he wolfed down the food.

Savouring the soup at the moment, Harry hardly noticed an elf wearing a potato sack giggling Phoenix a curious poke. The bangle buzzed which gave Harry a small shock, causing him to nearly dropped his bowl. The elf looked absolutely horrified, her lips were shaking as her large eyes started tearing up. Harry immediately reassured her that she hadn't committed a grave sin.

"I is sorry, Master Harry! Winky is being a bad elf!"

"No no no, everything's fine. You didn't do anything wrong, Winky. I just got a little surprised, that's all." He flashed her his most soothing smile. He managed to coax the elf into forgiving herself but she popped away in shame, refusing to reappear. Harry bit his lip, unsure of what to do.

"Will some of you keep an eye on her, make sure she isn't hurting herself?" The elves nodded and some even went away immediately to monitor her. The more curious and braver elves stayed behind. Their eyes drawn to Phoenix resting on his hand.

The more mature-looking elves were staring at him with indescribable eyes, while the younger elves looked extremely interested. After about a minute of awkward silence and staring contests, one of the older elves stepped forward.

"What is on Master Harry's wrist? We is wanting to know. That bracelet is being very special."

Harry reflexively pulled Phoenix close to his chest, the elves flinched, some wore anxious and fearful expressions. Harry slowly got off the stool, kneeling down to their height. The tension in the room could potentially kill a man.

Harry lowered his hand, allowing them to get a good look of Phoenix in all her glory. A gasp left a multitude of their mouths. The older ones were looking at him in a whole new light. They fell to a respectful kneel.

Stunned was an understatement to what Harry was feeling. He frantically urged them to get up, unsure of what else to do. The elves were slightly annoyed but after seeing the cluelessness on his face, they started whispering amongst themselves. The elves then turned back to him.

"Master Harry is not knowing of his heritage?"

"What do you mean? My parents were Lily and James Potter."

They blinked, "Master Harry is being not just a wizard. Master Harry is being very special. Master Harry is having Noble blood."

He raised an eyebrow, seeking an explanation. They simply stared back at him, as if hat was another for him to figure out what was exactly going on.

Thoroughly confused, Harry handed his food tray to the elves with slight hesitation. He'd definitely have to go to the library soon to research whatever they had just said.

The moment he let go, it popped away into a distant sink somewhere. The boy then felt a tug on his pants leg. He looked down to see a few younger elves gazing up at him eagerly, eyes switching between both him and Phoenix.

Reading their minds, he tapped Phoenix thrice, exposing its true form. Their excitement melded away into amazement and wonder. They huddled around the sword, examining every single inch of it.

Currently feeling a form of second-hand pride, Harry suddenly recalled the reason he was here to begin with. He still had to find a good place to practise with Phoenix, and to his sudden realisation:the House Elves probably knew every single room in Hogwarts. Who better to ask?

Harry cleared his throat, they quickly turned back to him.

"Sorry, but I'd just like to ask if there's a place in Hogwarts where I could train with Phoenix undisturbed?"

Almost instantly, the elves launched into suggestions. Harry rejected most of them for they involved a plethora of disillusionment charms, theft from the teachers and destruction of school property. Harry considered going back to his own search until he heard a good one.

"What about the Come and Go Room?"

"Yes! The Come and Go Room is being very good. Private and quiet too."

They were all in total agreement and Harry found himself intrigued.

"What's the 'Come and Go Room'? Where can I find it?"

The elf that had suggested it first continued," The Come and Go Room is a very good place, but it is only appearing when someone is needing it the most. It is being on the seventh floor, the entrance is opposite the tapestry there. Master Harry needs to walk past it three times thinking about what Master Harry is needing, and the door will open."

Harry nodded, processing the information. Once he could recite the instructions to himself, he beamed as he decided to head back to the dorms. Before he left through the doorway, the elf shouted a warning to him.

"Oh! Master Harry is needing to be very specific about what you is looking for, or the room will decide by itself from your words. I has gotten lost there before."

Harry stored that knowledge in his head. He waved to the elves as he left, "Thank you, all of you!"

As he left however, an absurd number of questions raced through his mind. What had they even been talking about? Noble blood? He was a half blood, yes, that was for sure.

But what in the name of Merlin could they have meant by that? He was pretty sure that his parents _were_ James and Lily Potter, but they had seemed to believe there was more.

All of a sudden, Griphook's words resounded in his head.

 _"We don't get much of your kind around here, if you fancy a continued existence, don't talk about it. That magic of yours hides scent, but in the Wizarding World, the greatest threats aren't monsters. Wizards can be far, far more vicious than you think."_

Harry furrowed his brows, this prompted more investigation. The library wasn't his area of expertise but he would go there if he needed to.

One thing was clear, however, he could not afford to tell anyone.

After the sound of his footsteps trailed off though, the elves had their own discussion.

"Master Harry is not being safe. The Mist is being weaker now, we is not knowing what the wizards will do if they is knowing about Master Harry. We is needing to protect Master Harry."

They all nodded in agreement, determination evident in their eyes.

* * *

 _27th October 1994_

The next day, Harry followed the elf's instructions and climbed up to the seventh floor after classes. He paced before the wall opposite the tapestry of… someone trying to teach trolls how to dance?

Ah, there it was. Harry shivered as the trolls in the tapestry glared at him.

Harry turned back to the task at hand and stared at the wall in front of him. According to the elf, this was the place. Bracing himself, Harry breathed in and started to pace.

Recalling the little elf's advice, if he wasn't specific enough he'd come to regret it deeply.

What did he need? He needed a place to practice using Phoenix, he had a gut feeling he would need to use it more in the future and he was determined to become as proficient as possible. The bangle turned warm on his wrist, as if agreeing with him.

Harry opened his eyes in trepidation. He hoped that he wouldn't be immediately greeted with a dark cold stone wall instead of a door.

He wasn't disappointed. The wall had vanished and a door stood in its place. He pushed the door open warily, a breath stuck in his throat.

Harry had left the study group Hermione had organised for them early. They had given him weird looks but assumed he had something else going on, deciding not to push him for answers.

Taking slow but light steps into the room, Harry marveled at the interior. It wasn't a structure unknown to him, he had seen the architecture before in one of the history textbooks Dudley had never bothered to read. He had seen it on the postcards Aunt Petunia collected.

It was an amphitheatre, Harry recognized. He had taken an interest upon seeing it in Dudley's books and had devoured the knowledge completely. They were used for plays and whatnot, but the Roman kind, they were places of battle and blood.

Perfect, Harry thought as soft sunlight shone down on him from an unknown source.

In contrast to the cold, medieval stone he was so used to walking on, the floor of the room felt more comfortable. It was tightly packed dirt -or was it sand- that gave a crisp sound along with the tiny dust cloud that formed with every step he took.

Harry looked around and was pleasantly surprised. He had expected something more like the Gryffindor Common Room, but he found the pale colored limestone steps surrounding him more welcoming, they resembled staircases that ascended higher and out his field of vision.

One would have expected that the sheer size and emptiness of the room would make one feel lonely and isolated, but Harry felt at peace, like he was meant to be here.

He stood on the round circle of dirt enclosed by the steps, countless shelves of weaponry encircled him. In the center of it all stood straw dummies that looked ready to take a beating.

Harry unleashed Phoenix, both he and the sword eager to unleash themselves on their newly-found victims.

* * *

The next hour flew by just like that, Harry and Phoenix falling into a routine. The sword seemed to hold many more secrets than he had thought. Every time he swung, the sword would either give him a hum of approval or a sting of displeasure.

It polished his movements slowly but steadily. Not a very efficient procedure, but Phoenix treated him with more patience than any of his professors.

By the time Harry had the mind to cast a Tempus again, he was flying out the doors of the Come and Go Room and dashing towards the Great Hall. Oh Merlin he was going to be late for dinner.

The boy slid into his seat at the Gryffindor table. It seemed he was earlier than his friends. He spotted them running in as well from one of the doors, it was clear he wasn't the only one to have ost track of time. Harry chuckled while greeting his friends.

They settled in as well and tucked in to the piping hot dinner in front of them.

Halfway through dinner though, their conversation was interrupted when Professor Dumbledore rose from his seat. The Hall immediately softened to a hush.

"Thank you students. As I mentioned before at the start of the school term, Hogwarts has had the privilege this year to be the host of the esteemed Tri-Wizard Tournament."

He waited as the older students chattered with excitement. Motioning for silence, he continued, "Yes, yes, I know all of you are excited. I am pleased to inform you that the students of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons will be arriving two days from now, on the 29th of October."

This set the students off into loud murmurs of excitement. Everyone was excited to meet the students from distant lands. With that, Professor Dumbledore sat down and allowed the students to continue with dinner.

Harry felt uneasy, even as he sat amongst the eager chatter of his friends. He could feel something coming, something that didn't bode well. Apparently, however, this uneasiness did not show on his face as Ron pulled him in for his input.

"Are you thinking of participating, Harry? Imagine what you could do with one thousand galleons!" The redhead had a dreamy look on his face.

Harry laughed nervously, "I don't think so Ron, according to Hermione, this tournament _was_ banned for a while because students kept...dying."

Hermione nodded in approval, "Thank you Harry! Finally, someone who's sensible enough. The death rate of previous tournaments was absurdly high, due to the difficulty of the tasks. Which is why I don't want to be seeing any of you out there participating!" She levelled the group with a warning glare.

Neville seconded her opinion while Dean and Seamus sulked and pouted with Ron. This lasted approximately 5 minutes before they realised that _the_ Viktor Krum was in Durmstrang and probably coming to Hogwarts in two days.

Although the conversation changed to something more light-hearted, Harry still couldn't get rid of the knot in his stomach. He trusted his gut, and it was telling him to be careful. Harry had the underlying feeling that he couldn't do this alone. Just then, Sirius' face appeared in his mind.

 _Your godfather will always be there for you._ His reassuring smile that accompanied those words calmed Harry down significantly.

Perhaps he would tell Sirius about this. He'd know what to do.

* * *

Dinner was over soon enough, the students filed out of the Hall and went back to the dorms.

Harry lied on his bed with a parchment and quill in hand. Ron curiously went up to him while the others were occupied with the 3-page essay Snape had assigned.

"What're you doing there Harry?"

The black-haired boy looked up, "I was gonna write something to Sirius, figured he'd want to know about what's been going on."

"Hmm, well you do that then. Are you going to start on the Potions homework though? It's due in two days. And on the off chance that you have, can I copy off you? I won't get a high grade, but I'll take what I can get." He remarked with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Sod off, Ron!" Harry laughed as he chucked a pillow at him. The redhead went to finish his essay, deciding to copy off Neville instead. Harry went back to his letter.

 _Dear Snuffles,_

 _How's it going? Things are going to get hectic here at Hogwarts. Students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons are going to be coming for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. I'm looking forward to meeting new people, but I feel something is going to go wrong. After what happened at the Stadium, I think I can defend myself pretty well though. But my gut is telling me that there are bigger things that are going to happen, and not good ones._

 _I'm not sure what to do, but I really needed to tell you. I don't think you had the Tournament back in your day, but I needed to tell someone. My friends are all looking forward to it, even Hermione. Shocking, right?_

 _I'd love to talk with you more, but Hedwig is off carrying letters to another person. I think you'd like that though, your Animagus form has always been terrified of her for some reason._

 _Write back soon, Snuffles!_

 _Your favourite godson,_

 _Harry_

* * *

Satisfied, Harry headed to the Owlery and had a school owl send it off for him. The dark brown bird flew off at top speed after Harry bribed it with two mice.

At the thought of owls, Harry winced. Hedwig was flying to America frequently nowadays, she was very disgruntled about it too. Harry had replaced his entire stash of owl treats and snacks with those of a premium grade just to appease her.

Despite the grumpy owl though, Harry was happy to have gained Sally as a friend.

Over the course of September, they had exchanged letters frequently. Harry learned more and more about Sally while gaining someone he could talk to. They bonded over their interest in cooking, and Harry found that she had the best advice, be it a few cooking tips or effective personal advice.

Harry walked back to the dorms as he recalled all his knowledge of Sally. She was a dedicated mother who had been working hard to raise Perseus, who she called Percy, for he always made a face, even with his underdeveloped facial muscles, when he was called by his full name.

His father had tragically been lost at sea. Harry was glad that Percy had a loving mother to raise him, he would not have had to suffer through a childhood like his.

Speaking of which, Sally had inquired deeply into his childhood. After finding out that he was an orphan, she had comforted him. She didn't have that pitiful tone in her letters, nor did she offer useless reassurances. She seemed to really understand him, and it was from there that he found out she had lost her parents when she was a child too.

She added many anecdotes from her daily life into her letters, and Harry enjoyed each one. Who knew working a supermarket job was filled with so much fun?

Harry felt bad about having to lie to Sally, but the Statue of Secrecy existed after all. He had vetted every single magical aspect of it and changed his life story into something that vaguely resembled his life at Hogwarts.

As far as Sally knew, t he was a student of a boarding school in Scotland, in the football club and had a Chemistry professor that absolutely hated him.

Overall, Harry really enjoyed their correspondence, it was a refreshing break from the tiring school year and Quidditch practises.

He waited in anticipation for Hedwig's return with a new letter in her beak. It would have a blue ribbon tied around it, for Sally had decided to go with that instead of the wax seals he had on all of his own.

* * *

 _Hiya everyone! Yeah..so im really sorry that i haven't been updating in a while. I had to take some time to decide where i wanted to go with this story as i didn't wanna leave all of u with an incomplete one. I cant promise that I'll be updating sooner as i have tests coming up._

 _But hopefully, this chapter was enjoyable to read._ _Honestly, writing Harry and Sally's dynamic my absolute favourite. But I'm not sure if Sally should be a mother figure to Harry, or just a really close Friend. And cause i havent figued out the poll function, could you guys either PM or review to help me with this? Thanks!_

 _Now, there's going to be somewhat of a slow discovery for Harry that he's a demigod. He's suspicious that he's not a normal wizard halfblood as the magical creatures are all giving him some serious foreshadowing. I really hope that all the foreshadowing doesn't become annoying as that's my biggest fear with this. It makes sense but is kind of draggy._

 _Oh, and if you havent noticed, i sorta.. gave up on chapter titles as not everyone is blessed with amazing summary skills._

 _Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter:D !_

 _As always, do leave a review and constructive criticism is always welcome._


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